Butterflies: Solidarity
by Fayth85
Summary: "Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on.
1. I Need You

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 1 - I Need You_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Lying on my tummy on the roof of the academy, I gaze down at my target. Blond, sun-kissed hair. Sky blue eyes, cloudier than every other time I've seen him. He sits sideways on the swing, gazing forlornly at the others, as the tips of his shinobi sandals gently scrape against the ground and grass beneath him.

The longing in his eyes is far more pronounced. He longs for the way everyone else's mother fusses over them, how they praise them, how they so obviously love them. He doesn't notice the dandelion near his foot. He doesn't notice the bird landing on the tree above him. He doesn't care that it's the end of summer, or that the weather is just right for cloud gazing.

All he sees, all he wants, is to be one of them—to belong.

Some of the mothers start talking about him, saying something through partly clenched teeth. I can't make out their words, but I see the vitriol in their stance, in their eyes. Uzumaki Naruto sees it, too. Given he closes in on himself, I can guess he hears them. He gets up, running off in a random direction.

Umino-sensei says something to Hokage-dono—something I don't care to make out. He isn't my concern, Uzumaki is. I get up from my perch, idly fingering my new forehead protector on my neck, before making my way down the side of the building—where no one will see me.

I follow Uzumaki, follow him through the streets, as he runs faster and faster to run away from the usual jeers and taunts. He makes his way up a building near the library, sitting on the ledge out of the public's eye—where he feels most at ease. I take up vigil far enough away to see him, but close enough to almost smell him.

He'll be on a ramen binge again later. No doubt in my mind. I'd better make sure he has enough, or he'll be even more depressed. I'll see if I can sneak in a few chocolate bars, too. He doesn't admit it, but he likes chocolate when he's like this—I see it in his eyes when he finds a bar on his kitchen counter when he's had a rough day.

Another shows up, sneaking up behind Uzumaki. Kanatsu Mizuki. The faux-sympathy in his beady eyes grates on me as he sits beside my blond. His silver hair blows in the gentle breeze as he soothes Uzumaki, I study them for a long moment, wondering what's going on—Kanatsu never showed any interest in Uzumaki before today.

Blondie is getting excited, but I can't make out his words. Then: "Tell me what to do! I'll do anything!" Kanatsu looks smug for a fraction of a second, before donning the mask of a sensei helping a struggling student. Kanatsu pets Uzumaki's hair, trying to get him to calm down, before muttering something to him. Uzumaki grins, pumping his fist to the heaven's as he swears he'll get the job done, 'believe it'.

With that Uzumaki is gone, leaving Kanatsu there to revel in his victory. The smug grin, the cocky gloating in his eyes. He's playing Uzumaki for a fool. So that's your game, is it? Alight, Kanatsu. Game on.

I don't follow Uzumaki this time. Having studied his every move over the last six years, I know what he'll do and when. No, I need to get ready, because he doesn't realize he's walking into a trap.

No, instead I make my way back to the Academy. To Hokage-dono. I meet his gaze, wondering briefly if he cares enough to help. He offered to help once, years ago—just after getting me the apartment across from Uzumaki and asking me to keep an eye on him.

Then again, he hasn't done a thing to fix the mistakes that made me hate him back them.

I stroll up to him. "I need those keys," I murmur, knowing he'll hear me. He narrows his eyes at me.

"Why is that?" he asks, indirectly ordering me to open up about my motives. I shrug, refusing to get into that. "Is something wrong?" It would be so easy to believe he cares, that he's concerned for me, that he wants to make my life better. That mama and papa still haven't been given proper burials years after their deaths, however, speaks far louder than his supposed concern.

Hokage-dono sighs, motioning me to follow him. Umino-sensei looks from one to the other, trying to make sense of what's going on, but given the bead of sweat on his brow and the pinched look on his face, it isn't hard to see he can't make any more sense of me than his last attempt to.

We walk, but I'm already going over my options. I know Kanatsu is a proper chuunin, likely Umino-sensei's superior in skill. He's above my skill-level, so I cannot take him out in direct combat. However, he's arrogant and cocky. He'll underestimate me for my supposed lack of skill and me barely graduating in the lower sixth of our class. He'll think he knows my skills, seeing as he was our taijutsu instructor.

I have the element of surprise, and I'll need to milk that for everything it's worth. That's why I need those keys. I need to get into mama's weapon caches, to be properly armed to press what little advantage I have.

We make it to his office, he invites me in and tells me to close the door behind me. The second the door gently slams shut, I feel a tingling rippling over every inch of my skin. He just cast a jutsu, though I dare not guess what kind.

"Aya-chan. Whatever you tell me will be be strictly confidential, I assure you," he soothes, the sound of him dragging his chair back rips through me like a nail on chalkboard. "You follow Naruto-kun after he runs off, and come back not ten minutes later demanding the keys to your mother's house. Please explain why."

I turn to him, my face blank and my posture laconic. He gracefully sits in his chair, facing me. His eyes are hard, his face as blank as mine. As he shifts his chair forward, the scent fear fills the air. It's light, barely noticeable, but definitely there. It isn't coming from him, though. There are others in this room. Not exactly what I'd consider 'confidential', good sir.

I cross my arms, tilting my head to one side. "It's time," is all I say, refusing to trust a man that has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he cannot be trusted with my precious people.

"You haven't once come to me in the last six years. You don't trust me," he intones, his eyes boring into me. Oh, but I do. I trust you to stay out of my way and let me do my job. You know, the job you gave a six year old who was just kicked out of the orphanage for defending a boy you can't protect.

I say nothing. Nothing will change the past, nothing will change the present. So why waste precious words on someone that cannot understand the depths of his stupidity?

"Do you believe Naruto is going to do something foolish?" he presses.

"The keys?" I remind him.

"Need I remind you, genin Namiki, that as a kunoichi of Konoha, you are my subordinate. You are required to answer to me by law. And if I feel you are holding back, I am within my rights to do as I see fit with you," he drills, clearly having decided the other route is getting him nowhere.

"The keys belong to me. I want them back," I drone, unmoved by his new approach.

He folds his hands, covering the lower portion of his face as he stares at me. He knows something is different, and intuition no doubt tells him it has to do with Uzumaki. More than that, I see the gears churning in his head, I see him weighing risk against reward.

"Very well, Aya-chan," he murmurs, reaching into his desk for something. He tosses something to me, his eyes never leaving mine. I look down, studying the two silvery keys and the single canine attached by a braid of grey hair. "Do as you feel you must. I'll expect a full report on this incident."

Balling my fist around the treasure I was just offered, I look up at Hokage-dono. I turn to the door without a word. "And Aya-chan? If you'd have showed your true skill during that exam, I'd have gladly assigned you to Naruto-kun's team. You know that, don't you?"

I don't even stop to show I heard him. I have an idiot to keep alive, so offering an old hypocrite my time just isn't an option.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

In every direction all I can see is tranquillity, peace, and harmony. Even though I know I'm in the Shinobi District, I cannot help but feel at ease here. The street is cobbled, the trees dotting the landscape are tall, sturdy. It's so green here, the air so fresh.

I wish I had the time to admire my surroundings. I don't. I don't know what time Uzumaki will act, though I suspect after sunset—that gives me three hours. I right my glasses, picking up the pace to get to my destination faster.

At the end of a dead-end street, I move to the gate on the r…le… no right. I don't admire the swirl, the kanji for wolf, or the gorgeous seal I haven't set eyes on in nearly a decade. I'm amazed I remembered the way here, to be honest.

Instead of puzzling that out, I dig a kunai out of my leg pouch and use the tip to slice open my right thumb. I smear the blood on the seal, hearing the gate pop open. I push the heavy-looking iron barrier out of the way, hating the creaking that announces my arrival home.

Once there's enough space, I slip through and close the gate behind me. I lick my thumb, hoping I don't get an infection from the cut—that would suck. Once I confirm the gate is shut, I move through the jungle that should be my front yard to the door. I place my hand against another seal, feeling the cold stone wall warm up at my touch—the seal still works, good.

I dig out my keys, stuff one of them at random into the keyhole in the door, and twist to unlock it. With little reverence, I turn the nob, opening my front door.

Suddenly nervous, I wonder what scene awaits me. The last time I entered this place, it was with mama at my side. Even after seven long years, I feel the wound in me bleed freely as I swing the door open. It doesn't creak like the gate, luckily.

Peering into the house, almost like a portal into the past, I see everything as it was when I left. I see the slippers on the slight incline—I see my bear, still missing an eye, sitting on mine to keep them warm.

 _"_ _Bazu will keep them warm and guard the house, Aya. Don't worry,"_ mama's words echo down the corridor of my mind. I stand, rooted to the doormat beneath my feet, seeing mama reaching for my hand as we leave together, one last time.

Shaking off the useless memory, I enter the house, slipping out of my slippers to get down to business. I don't touch the beer on my way in, no matter how my heart begs. I haven't the time.

I take a right into the corridor leading to the family sitting room, ignoring the scenes playing out of better times. The meals we shared, the few guests that ever came over—though I can never recall their faces.

I make my way to the hidden cache, pressing a seemingly random spot on the wall and hearing it click. Part of the wall swings out, revealing a door. I enter, looking around for what I need. Blades of all shapes and sizes, boxes of kunai, battle senbon, and shuriken, ninja wire, and… bingo! Sharpening kit.

I grab the sharpening kit and the box of kunais and senbon. I lay them on the table, going back into the cache. I've trained mainly with kunai, but mama taught me how to use tantos and kodachis from the time I could walk. I take a twin set of each and close the door behind me, pleased to see no sign of a door the second it clicks closed.

I set the four blades on the table, plopping onto the one of the sitting pillows. Unsheathing the blades, I test their weight and balance, wondering if taking them with me is worth the risk. Hmm, balance is more or less what I'm used to.

Carefully checking the blade, I find them dull. I'll need to run through a few katas to make sure my body gets used to these blades—they seemed so much longer when I was five. Still, Uzumaki will need someone to watch his back… I can't not give it my all.

With no reason not to, I set my kunai on the table as well, lining them up to sharpen them efficiently, just like mama taught me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Stuffing the key into the door, I see the sky almost as if it's on fire—the clouds ablaze with it. The sun will set soon. Uzumaki will make his move. Turning the key to make sure it locks the door, I place my hand on the seal to activate the security system.

I never did figure out what the second key was for. Now isn't the time, though. I slip the keys into my jacket, tying it to a string mama always told me to have handy—no one checks places other than pockets, for some reason.

Just to be sure, I fiddle the kodachi grips over my left shoulder, to make sure they won't move around while I'm busy. They seem sturdy enough, so I check the tanto grips on my hips, getting the same response from them. Nodding to myself, I slip through the gate, making sure it's secure before dashing down the empty street.

I make my way make to the red-light district, hating that Hokage-dono gave us two run-down apartments a stone's through from the one place guaranteed to get drunkards and social pests on a regular basis—the crowd most likely to bother Uzumaki.

I make it to my apartment without incident, but I don't go to my door. Instead, I lean against the door across the hall, resting my ear against it to listen in.

"Alright, it's not my best plan, but it'll do," Uzumaki's muttering doesn't comfort me. He never has a good plan to begin with. So if he admits this isn't his best? It's all downhill from here. His window opens—he's going the stealth route.

Nodding to myself, I silently dash down the hallway. I look up, seeing the first stars coming out. At least he picks a good time to act—though his bright orange outfit makes it too easy for me to spot him. I follow at a distance, taking the exact route he takes. I follow him over rooftops, towards the Hokage Tower.

He's finally lost his mind, hasn't he.

And yet, I follow him up into the private suite on the third floor—where Hokage-dono lives, to make it easier for the secrets he's meant to protect and the Anbu Ops meant to guard him. Odd. Hokage-dono never sleeps here, he must be on his way to the Clans' District.

The man himself spots Uzumaki, but doesn't see the Sexy jutsu coming. He passes out, via nosebleed.

What. An. Idiot.

I follow Uzumaki deeper and deeper, through a hidden door, into a hidden library. Yeah. I'm willing to bet it's punishable by law to be in here. And yet, I follow without pause.

Uzumaki finds a large scroll, straps it to his lower back, and dashes back the way he came. That the scroll itself says 'forbidden' on it, should tell him something—as usual, he's too high on adrenaline to bother with silly things.

I follow again, refusing to lose him. I follow him out of the Tower, out of the Shinobi District, to the edge of the village, in a forest—a training ground, I think.

He looks around, trying to see if he's alone. He hasn't spotted me once in all my years—and he doesn't spot me this time either. He takes the scroll and unfurls a section of it. I climb up into a tree, inching closer to him to hear what idiocy he tells himself.

"Alright, let's see. Shadow Clone jutsu?!" You're being loud, Uzumaki. "Aw, man! My clone jutsu is the worst!" He's in tears? Frustrated? Why? He just stole a forbidden scroll from the Hokage himself. That's punishable by death.

"I'm not gonna let Mizuki-sensei down! I need to master this before he gets here!" Is that the angle? Trick Uzumaki into stealing the scroll, kill him, and blame him for the whole thing. Mizuki would be a 'hero'.

Well. Now that I see the pieces in play, let's see how this plays out. I settle in, ready for the long haul.

Uzumaki keeps trying and trying and trying to perform the jutsu. I hear his bawling in anguish and frustration more than a few times. I do nothing, say nothing, reveal nothing. I need that traitor to be here before I make my move. And I don't doubt for a second he'll be here in person to get the job done.

It's almost three hours later when I sense the movement coming our way.

"Gotcha! Naruto, you jackass! What do you think you're doing?!" Umino-sensei. Hmm. He finds Uzumaki quickest, once again. Other than me, only Umino has ever found him when he doesn't want to be found. Interesting.

"Heh, you found me already? I only managed to learn one technique," Uzumaki once again shows the intelligence of a shopping bag—containing only what someone puts in him.

More movement, only quieter this time. I sniff, wondering at the strange scent in the air. Adrenaline? Someone's ready for a fight.

Kanatsu lands on a branch, already talking smack. I listen with half an ear while I plot how best to kill him. Or should I disable his legs and arms so that he can be brought in for questioning? I don't know if I'm skill enough to take down a chuunin like that, but we'll see how this plays out.

"Didn't he tell you? The reason why he hates you? Why everyone hates you?" Kanatsu looks like bottled insanity. His eyes are wide, a hint of the madness lurking within. His grin almost splits his face in two—he's enjoying what he's doing.

"No, Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Umino shouts, obviously knowing what he's talking about.

"The fact is, you killed Iruka's parents! You are the Nine-tailed Fox that nearly destroyed our village twelve years ago!"

"NOOOOOO!" Dramatic much?

Kanatsu starts spinning a Fuma shuriken, obviously preparing to strike. What is it with the dramatic build up? If you want to kill them, don't announce what you're about to do.

I take out four senbons, two in each hand. When he throws that shuriken, Umino will dive in front of Uzumaki—that's just the kind of man he is. That means the blond will be fine, and that leaves Kanatsu open to a stealth attack. He's facing me, but his focus is on the pair below. Senbons are harder to detect than kunai, because there's almost no sound as they fly through the air. This is my best bet. Now, I need to aim for the shoulder joints and the knees.

I bide my time, waiting for just the right moment. I'll only get one chance.

"NARUTO! GET DOWN!" Umino bellows, fear overpowering his tone. Kanatsu flings the giant star, it's rotation making the tips little more than a blur.

Now or never.

I fill my senbons with my chakra, flinging them at Kanatsu with all my might.

Umino body flickers in front of Uzumaki, taking the shuriken meant for him.

I can't see from this angle what Uzumaki does.

Kanatsu, however, takes all four senbons. They dig deep enough into him that there's barely an inch visible from this side. His eyes go from dark and gloating, to wide and shocked. Seeing as he now sports two senbons in his kneecaps, gravity is far less kind to him. He falls from his perch, down onto the forest floor.

Unfortunately, he lands on his back—not on his head. So he survives. That means he's conscious. And aware of his surroundings. I stay hidden, wondering how this will play out.

An Anbu Operative body flickers into the area, right over Kanatsu. I sniff, idly wondering why I recognise this one's mask.

"If you twitch the wrong way, you're dead," the Op grinds out, slamming their foot into Kanatsu's stomach. "Namiki. Get down here."

The scent of chakra fills the air. Before I can even move, the area is crawling with Anbu Ops of all types. Including Hokage-dono. Nodding to myself, I stand and move out of the shrubbery I hid away in.

I move into plain view before jumping down. One of the Ops is already tending to Umino-sensei, but none of them approach Uzumaki to calm him down. The idiots.

I move to the blond, my face held carefully blank. I see the fear, the irrationality that I've long known resides in that idiot's mind.

"Get away!" he shrieks, tear in his eyes. I don't even pause, continuing towards him. "Don't you get it?! I'm a monster! I'm a demon!"

All the jeers, the taunts, the insults, the names. They things everyone has always told him, it all makes sense now. They think he's the monster that lay waste to Konoha. The idiots.

I follow him as he backs himself up against a tree, unable to go back further. I see his tears, his fears, his eyes a clear and open window into his soul for the first time in years. He believes what Kanatsu told him to the core of his being.

I squat in front of him, just barely not touching him. "Idiot," I poke his forehead with my index finger. Then I dig into my jacket for the one thing that will let him know exactly who I am: a bar of chocolate. I fish it out, grabbing his wrist with my free hand, and thrusting this world's ambrosia into his open palm.

His eyes widen with shock, studying the bar of Suju's pure chocolate—the same size and brand and type I always leave on his counter when he's had a rough day.

I close his fist around the bar, wordlessly telling him not to drop it—kami-sama would be upset if anything happened to it. With that, I stand, turn, and start my journey back to my apartment.

"You're not done here, Aya-chan," Hokage-dono demands that I stay. Let's see. Uzumaki is no longer in danger. So no, I'm good.

"A… Aya-chan?" Uzumaki tests my name, no doubt remembering me from either the Academy or the Orphanage before then. "N-Namiki… Aya?"

I turn to him, my face completely blank. Waving lazily to acknowledge that he's right, I continue walking without a care. Until an Op body flickers right in front of me. The same one that stomped Kanatsu.

"You. Stay," she demands, pointing down to show the exact spot she means—now that I'm closer, her scent is far more noticeable, far more familiar. I snort, altering my course to show how well I follow orders. "Miwako-sensei didn't raise you like this."

I freeze in my tracks. M… mama.

"Look at him, Aya. He needs a friendly face. Can you really walk away when he needs you most?" The Op seems to know exactly where to hit me. Her scent almost reminds me of Hyuuga-san, from our class. But she keeps calling up… a face… a timid girl from _back then_.

I turn, facing Uzumaki once again. His mask is almost firmly in place by now, having caught his second wind. I see the fear lurking just below the surface—his need to be reminded that he's more than the demon everyone fears he is.

My being here doesn't add to or subtract from that. He just needs time. I turn from him.

"Aya," the Op lays her hand on my shoulder. Much the same way mama would.

 _"_ _Who're you?" I ask, peering up at the new face mama brought home. She almost never brings people here, and never anyone she doesn't trust. The long black hair, the oval face, the nervous way she bites her lip. She's uncomfortable, probably scared of meeting me—everyone is scared the first time, for some reason. I think it's 'cause of mama. She can be scary sometimes._

 _"_ _This is Hyuuga Hitomi. My junior Op," mama explains, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder and pushing her closer to me for some reason. Her scent reminds me of cinnamon and rain on dry dirt. "She's into girls much in the same way I'm into boys. Do you think that's weird?"_

"It's alright, pup. You're safe with me," the Op murmurs. I gaze up at her blank mask, wondering why I trust her. I don't trust anyone. Nodding, I stay put, as she asks.

"Rabbit. Take Naruto and Aya to my office. I'll be there shortly."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Uzumaki is a ball of nervous energy. He's constantly fidgeting, looking around fearfully, shifting his weight from one leg to the next. He keeps staring at me, then staring at the bar of chocolate still in his hand. He doesn't know what to make of any of this.

I'm mostly looking around. The walls are all bare. There's only a desk with a swivel chair behind it in the room, other than three doors—one leading into the private suite Uzumaki snuck into earlier, another leading out into the receptionist area we entered from, the third, I'm not so sure.

The windows are all closed, though they don't hide the twinkling stars the dot the sky. Sure, they're not as obvious because of light pollution, but there are a few that outshine the stupidity of mankind.

The Op—Rabbit, they called her—is the only one in here with us. She's right next to me. Though she isn't close enough to accidentally touch me, I feel her warmth. I don't know what to make of her, but I can almost swear she's this same Hyuuga from back then—there's no other way to explain how easily she seeps past my defences.

She has a painted mask, and a grey jacket. Mama had a white jacket—is that an important difference? The arm guards, the shin guards, the armour, everything else is identical. Other than that mama used to wear a tanto horizontally across her lower back, and Rabbit wears a katana diagonally on her back with the grip peaking over right shoulder.

This whole situation is stupid. I did what I was supposed to. So why am I here?

Annoyed with it all, I plop onto the ground and fish out another bar of chocolate. I rip into the wrapping and take a bite. I wrap my free arm around my knees, resting my forehead against whatever part in that area it hits first.

I did what I was supposed to. I kept Uzumaki safe. I didn't kill the key suspect—though he's obviously a traitor and deserves to die. And other than Umino, no one was injured.

The door opens without warning, but I don't care enough to see who's here. I take another bite, chewing to ease the rising anxiety in me.

"You've had a very trying evening, it would seem." Hokage-dono has a talent for understatement. "How are you holding up, Naruto-kun?" Uzumaki is, of crouse, the cause for concern. That I, once again, save his ass goes unnoticed.

"Is Iruka-sensei…?"

"Hmm? Why don't you ask him yourself?" I take another bite, wondering why I need to be here for this. Umino wasn't hurt badly enough to question his survival. His flak jacket took the worst of that hit—as it was designed to.

"SENSEI!" Uzumaki is too loud. Way too loud.

There's an exchange of words I don't bother following. I just bite into my comfort, my consoler, letting it melt in my tongue as the _flavours_ of love dance about my mouth. The only love I've ever known, the only comfort I've ever known… embodied in a bar a little bigger than my hand.

"You listen to me, Naruto," Umino demands, his tone gently. "You are not the fox. You are Uzumaki Naruto, my precious student." I take another bite, wondering why they need me here for the umpteenth time.

"But… you failed me…"

"I'm hard on you, because I care about you." I sigh. I don't need to hear this. I don't need to be here. I don't want to be here. "Now, come on. You said you were training in the forest right? Why don't you show me what you've learned?"

"YOU GOT IT, SENSEI! SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Ah yes. Because the louder you shout the name, the more powerful the technique. It all makes sense now.

I hear something, a poof. I smell chakra usage. I take another bite—the last of the bar entering my mouth.

"Well. That is most definitely a worthy clone." I sigh, shaking my head. Why all the theatrics? Just give him the stupid forehead protector, get it over with, and tell me why I need to be here. A hand lands on my shoulder.

I turn, righting my glasses so I can see the same mask I've been gazing at all night. She squatted down to me, just to show me that she's here. I sigh again, getting to my feet just in time to see Umino replacing Uzumaki's stupid goggles with a proper forehead protector—Umino's now curiously missing. Gee, I wonder what happened.

I look to Hokage-dono—glaring dully, to be honest. He briefly raises a hand to tell me to be patient a little longer. I screw my eyes shut, doing all I can to keep my temper in check.

More words. More empty boasts— _I'm gonna be Hokage for sure, believe it!_ —and more theatrics that certainly don't need me here as a witness. I stare at an empty spot on the wall, wondering what any of this has to do with me.

"Well, Naruto. You should head home and get some rest. I'm sure Iruka-kun could use some rest himself." Are we finally getting somewhere?

"Uhh… about that?" Uzumaki's sky blue eyes are focused on me—I can feel his gaze without even looking. "Wh-what does Aya-chan… why was she there earlier?"

"All things in time, Naruto-kun," Hokage-dono susses him, shooing him with a lazy wave.

"Sorry, old man. But I gotta know," Uzumaki refuses to leave just yet. I look in the blond's direction. I see him gripping the bar of chocolate I gave him. He has questions. Questions as pointless as the colour of the sky and the taste of water.

"You're the one. Aren't you." I gaze at him, unfazed by the 'sudden' realization. "You keep sneaking into my apartment, bringing ramen and chocolate. Aren't you?"

I shrug, letting that be my response. I don't care if he knows—if I did, I wouldn't have shown him in the first place.

"You even got kicked out of the orphanage because of me," he continues undeterred by my silence. "Why? Why did you always stand up for me when no one else cared?"

I turn my full attention to Hokage-dono, raising an eyebrow to mutely ask why I'm listening to a monologue.

"I know you ain't doing it 'cause of the old man!"

"Believe what you want," I drone, waving him off without a care. "If there is nothing else?"

"I need a word with you, Aya," Hokage-dono insists. I roll my eyes shaking my head. I stand. And I wait. And nothing happens. Uzumaki doesn't leave. Umino stands rooted where he stands. Rabbit crosses her arms under her bust. And I'm still waiting for something that doesn't seem to want to come.

"Some time tonight," I demand, a slight growl in my tone.

"Naruto. I'll come check on you in the morning. Please go home for now," Hokage-dono supposedly orders. Uzumaki mutters something I don't care to decode, before the door is swung open and the room has two less people in it.

I'll need to check on him later. He's going to drive himself up a wall, and he only had two cups of instant ramen left—and no money left to buy more.

"Thank you, Aya-chan," he finally addresses me. "Thanks to you, we were able to track him without involving anyone outside of Anbu. So the public will never know what happened tonight." I cross my arms, waiting for his high-strungness to get to the point.

"I need a full report. How you discovered this plot, what you planned, and how it worked out," he orders, his tone far more demanding.

I take a scroll out of my hip pouch, laying it on his desk without a word. He takes it, reading it right in front of me.

"I see. This is all the proof I need, thank you." I glare dully. "Dismissed. And please, come to me next time." I snort, shaking my head.

"Aya," Rabbit calls me. I turn to her, wondering what she needs. "Would it be easier if you come to me instead?" I wave her off without a word, moving towards the door.

"Your mother did the same thing, you know." I freeze, hating where this is obviously going. "Shutting me out, slowly driving herself up a wall until she finally snapped. Is that the path you wish to follow?"

I turn to her, my gaze blank as it has been all day. She takes off her mask, revealing an older version of the face I remember from that day—she can't be older than nineteen. Her eyes are a little mistier, a lot more world-weary. "You know who I am. You know your mother trained me. And you know I can read you because of it. Why are you running away from me?"

Instead of answering, I open the door and leave. This was an utter waste of my time.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Carrying only a bag of groceries, the keys to get into his apartment, and the sheer annoyance of knowing he isn't going to shut up any time soon, I open his door and stroll into his apartment like I own the place. I find him in the corner, his eyes wide with shock even as he hugs his knees—a habit we share, it seems.

I go into his kitchenette, opening his fridge. The pack of spoiled milk gets taken out, and a pack of fresh milk is put in the instead, along with five cups of instant ramen—miso, beef, and chicken flavoured for some variety. The sixth ramen cup gets put on the counter before I stuff the spoiled milk in the bag and close the fridge door. I stroll over to his water cooker, taking it out of the base and over to the sink.

Turning the water on, I fill it to its minimum required before slapping it back onto its base and clicking it on to boil the water. While that's doing its job, I go to the table, clearing off the now empty—though still warm—cups of ramen, which get tossed into the trash. I go get a cloth and wipe down the table, tossing the still wet cloth into his sink for him to deal with—per the norm.

The water starts cooking. I go back to the counter, tearing open the cup of ramen and pouring the cooking water into it. I grab a pair of chopsticks and the now hot cup, bringing them to the table and setting them down where he always puts them—there always was a smear on this spot to mark it for me.

"Come. Eat," I demand, taking the seat opposite where I placed the cup. He gets up, his gaze never wavering from me. He comes closer, pulling back the chair and plopping down onto it. "You get three questions. I don't promise to answer any of them."

"How… did you get in?" Brilliant starting point. You heard me using keys.

"Magical monkeys. Two left."

"…" he opens his mouth, but quickly shuts is. He screws his eyes shut, almost as if he doesn't want to see me for a moment. "Why don't you hate me?"

"Because you've done nothing wrong. Last shot," I drone. There's a minute and a half left before the ramen's ready to eat. I doubt he'll miss me once he has his comfort food.

"You followed me. You knew Mizuki was setting me up. Why didn't you warn me?" A smart question? I didn't think he had it in him.

"Would you have listened?" His eyes go wide from shock. I know him well enough to know he'd think I'm either jealous of his last chance or want him to fail, so he'd do it anyway. "That's three." I leave an envelope with ten thousand Ryou notes on the table. It isn't much, but it should last him until the next orphan's pay-out next week.

"A—"

"I said three. Good night." I close the door behind me, locking it for him. I step to my door—literally less than a metre away from his—quietly opening it and letting myself in. It's been a long, tiring, pointless day. Par for the course.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I jerk awake, beads of sweat decorating my forehead. Another nightmare—I already can't remember what this one was about. And really it doesn't matter. Dreams don't matter.

It's about five AM, so instead of trying to go back to sleep, I get out of my futon and make it up. I make my way through my Spartan hidey-hole. No closet for my clothes—they stay in the dryer. No nightstand for my glasses—I keep them on the low table. Only a futon to sleep in, a couch to nap on, a table for eating and doodling, cupboards that offer more space than I'll ever need, and a fridge to keep my chocolate cool.

I meander into the living room, pacing myself so I don't hit anything. Slowly making my way to the low table. I kneel, sitting to the table and start feeling around for my glasses, finding them on the second sweep.

I flick them open, feeling for the curve on the ear pieces—upside down, how typical. I don my eyewear, looking around in the dark.

 **FLASH!**

I jerk back, covering my face with my left forearm and already fearing the worst. The light was just flicked on—someone is here, I'm completely unarmed.

"You're quite the early bird," a familiar voice drones. Hyuuga-san, no doubt. I grunt, squinting to see if my eyes are adjusting to the light. Lowering my arm, I find Hyuuga-san standing by the front door, her finger still on the light switch. Looking down, I find the four blades and my leg and hip pouches I left in one of the cupboards to keep them hidden.

"You're quite the intruder," I snipe, feeling for the keys I tied to a makeshift chain I made last night. They're still there, luckily.

"So you can do it to Naruto, but you don't want me to do it to you?" she counters smoothly. Her eyebrow is raised somewhat, but I don't know her well enough to know what that means coming from her.

"I brought him dinner. You're empty-handed," I sneer, already tired of this game. "What do you want?"

"No one's here, Aya-chan. I already cast a privacy jutsu, so no one will hear you." She probably thinks that's reassuring, but that sounds more like a threat to me than anything. "That's why I lay your weapons there, so you know I'm not here to hurt you."

"Ah yes. Because a genin stands a chance against Anbu Ops. It all makes sense now."

"You know I'm not here to hurt you."

"No, you just broke in, lay out my weapons, and want to chat like a civilized adult," I snipe. She winces.

"Fine." She waltzes over to my fridge, opening it to see what is in there. "You're not getting any chocolate from me. So you're having… peaches for breakfast." She takes out the half-full carton, setting it on the counter. She goes through the motions to make tea as well.

I narrow my eyes, trying to and failing at making sense of her.

She comes to the table not a minute later, setting the carton down with a steaming cup of tea.

"There, breakfast is served," she drones, glaring dully at me. I don't even want to know. I grab a peach, rubbing it against my pyjamas before taking a bite. "Anything else, your highness?"

"Still waiting to hear why you're stalking me while I sleep," I manage, working my tongue around the juicy, sweet fruit in my mouth.

"Are you planning to kill yourself?" she demands, her eyes boring into me. I raise an eyebrow, wondering where that's coming from. "I see the signs, Aya. Distancing yourself from the world doesn't mean a lot to the average kunoichi. To a Namiki? It means you've got one foot in the grave. Now answer the question."

"No," I drone, taking another bite.

"Why won't you answer me?" she presses. My eyes widen slightly. She knew what I was saying no to?

"Why do you care?"

"I—"

"Seven years later," I cut her off. That shuts her up.

"I screwed up, Aya." No, really? Did you? Well, thank you for the update. I never would have figured that out without your help. "I won't try to cover that up. But I'm not taking chances with this. I checked with Kitou-sensei. You haven't been to see him in almost two years. I asked around. I know you're not seeing a different shrink."

I glare at her. "Who do you think you are?" I demand. "Barging into my life ten fucking years later."

"I've made an appointment for you. Ten-thirty sharp. Cooperate, or I report you for suicidal ideation to Internal Affairs and you will be removed from active duty," she threatens.

"I'll meet your report, and raise you breaking and entering, sedition, stalking a minor, coercion, and me coincidentally matching your sexual preferences," I counter. She winces, obviously hoping I would have forgotten mama's introduction of her. "I've convinced psychologists before that I'm just fucking dandy. So who do you think suffers in this little bitch-fest?"

"I'm scared, Aya. I already lost your mother, I—"

"Switching tactics isn't gaining you points," I sneer, feeling well and truly fucking pissed off. "I can't fucking believe I felt safe with such a…" Her eyes widen, obviously shocked at my words.

"I…"

"Get out," I demand through gritted teeth. I'm in no mood for this. I haven't been in the mood for this. And this pathetic attempt to control me isn't even the best I've yet faced.

She shakes her head, her eyes suspiciously shiny. "I can't, Aya. I can't lose you, too."

"You never had me." I make the ram handseal, blocking all chakra to my head before flooding it to break the illusion. The blades disappear—the same ones I couldn't feel while I was looking for my glasses. What. A. Shock.

"I'm not giving up on you. I will not lose you. Even if that means dragging you to that appointment kicking and screaming. Even if that means you ruining my life. I'm not giving up on you."

She walks over to me, sitting next to me. She meets my angry gaze with nothing more than begging and a broken heart.

Her act is flawless. But she assumes I care. "Get. Out."

"Please," she begs, prostrating herself before me. "Please. I beg you, come with me to the appointment. Let me help you. Let me save you, like your mother saved me."

"Give me one good reason!" I bellow, balling my fists. I'm already to the point of beating this woman to within an inch of her life. If she keeps pushing, I won't care what I do to her.

"Because I need you." She looks up, tears stream down her face. She's just acting, Aya. She's playing you. She's manipulating you. She doesn't care. If she cared she'd have been there for you from the start!

Her hand caresses my cheek, her touch gentle but jerky all the same.

"I need you, Namiki Aya." The first tear drops. The first tear I've shed in years that wasn't part of a ploy, that wasn't a tool in a con, that wasn't summoned to twist the outcome to what I want it to be. Her other hand caresses my other cheek, wiping the tear away. She tugs me towards her.

I…

I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to feel. I don't understand.

She needs me?

No one needs me.

No one wants me.

No one has been allowed to get close enough for such a thing to be possible. Since mama died, I made sure of that.

I…

My head is lain against her chest. I feel the cotton of her shirt, the warmth of her body. I hear her erratic breathing, the steady thumping of her heart. I smell her tears, the lotion she used to cream her skin.

"I need you. Even if you're broken. Even if you feel like you have nothing left. I need you. Please, Aya. Please, let me help you. I'll do anything. Please."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 1_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: The spin-off I thought wouldn't happen. I have no idea why these ideas don't leave me alone, I have enough unfinished projects to work on!  
_**


	2. Safety Net

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 2 – Safety Net**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Walking around the village, I find myself lost. What does this woman hope to achieve? How is talking about this going to change anything? Is she stupid?! Clinical depression is the state of mind you descend into when your brain no longer produces those happy, sappy, feel-good drugs. Talking does exactly shit to change that.

Yet, she demands that I start seeing Kitou-sensei again. He didn't help things any then. He won't make a damn difference now.

Still, I promised her I would let her help me. Kitou-sensei isn't Hyuuga-san—so fuck him.

You know what I need? To get some shopping done. It makes perfect sense. After all, I'm out of takeout, my cherries should get tossed out, and I gave Uzumaki my last chocolate bars. It makes sense.

I take a le—

"Your appointment won't wait," Hyuuga-san reminds me. _Sigh_. It won't even take that long. Fine, whatever.

We make our way to Konoha General Hospital. Me trudging along like a prisoner on death row, her like she's the guard meant to escort me there—which isn't far from the truth.

We enter the double doors. Instantly all eyes light up with recognition—of the staff at least. One of the reasons I hate coming here—papa worked here. So anyone that's been here for some years have worked with him, and many of the doctors and nurses here have.

"Oh, aren't you Satsuma's little girl?" _Sigh_. "Sorry. It must still be a sore point."

I get past the general reception, up into the Psych Ward. The same secretary that worked here two years ago, still works here. So much has changed.

"Namiki-san. Right on time, as always," she greets me with a smile. I don't wait for her to wave me in. I know where Kitou is, I can smell him from here. I walk right up to his door, opening it without knocking. I make sure to slam the door in Hyuuga-san's face though.

I sit down, gazing at the familiar face of the orphan-turned-medic. The neatly combed, black hair, the beady eyes, the effeminate eyebrows. He's the type of man you question if it isn't a woman in disguise.

"So. You're here." His opening salvo sucks.

"Nn," I noise, rolling my eyes. I don't get it either, don't worry. I'm not here because I want to be.

"How do you think you're doing these days?" Cue the most predictable question ever.

"About the same as two years ago," I offer, shrugging.

"The nightmares have started again." I flinch. That's why she was there while I was sleeping. "And from what Hyuuga Hitomi tells me, you show the same signs as your mother before her last mission. So, if your situation is about the same as two years ago. That leads me to believe you are a better actress than I gave you credit for."

"Or that there isn't anything you can do about the situation, and I refused to keep coming back here to repeat earlier progress," I snipe.

"There is that possibility, yes. I am willing to entertain the notion. However, that brings me to a very important junction. One which only you can choose the path of." A little more drama in my life. _Lovely_. "What do you think will help? What will make the situation better, in your opinion?"

 _"I need you. Even if you're broken. Even if you feel like you have nothing left. I need you. Please, Aya. Please, let me help you. I'll do anything. Please."_

"Nothing you can give me," I drone.

"What were you just thinking about?" he presses. I start shaking my head, ready to tell him 'nothing'. "I know it wasn't about your parents. You still haven't connected with a single classmate, so I know it isn't about them. You guard Naruto-kun well, but not even he's ever called on a twitch in your lips. So what made you smile?"

"Noth—"

"Hyuuga Hitomi, huh?" My eyes widen slightly, too shocked to curb it completely. "That aside. Who in your life is worth living for, Aya-chan?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Well, if that wasn't the most unorthodox session I've ever suffered through. I mean, fuck. He purposely avoided every tactic I've learned a fucking counter for. Son of a bitch was too prepared for me for this to be a coincidence.

"Namiki-san?" Yes, o herald of death and destruction? "I have a new appointment scheduled in for you. In two weeks, same time."

You can't ever give me good news, can you. Still, I take the card with the new appointment, stuff it into my hip pouch, and walk towards the—

"How'd it go?" Hyuuga-san barges in on my strolling out. I don't even slow my pace to acknowledge her. I walk down the stairs, ignore the 'hey, I know you' looks, and out of this infestation of I-know-what's-good-for-you assholes.

Still, she follows without fail. Doesn't she have some duty, some shift, something she gets paid to do? Or maybe a family? She's from a clan, after all. Surely someone needs her to do something.

"Are you hungry?" she asks the second sunlight kisses my skin. I look up at the sky, seeing another beautiful day. The sun is shining, clouds are loafing around, and the wind is cool and gentle. The usual weather in Konoha.

Food. Right. I need to get some food or I'll starve… or go crazy from chocolate withdrawal—why does no one understand that's really a thing?

"Aya-chan?" It's called the silent treatment. Heard of it?

I walk through the busy streets, making my way to the market. This isn't my usual time for shopping, but I can't bring myself to care. I don't even have my shopping bag—that means I'm either going to have to buy another one, or make my way home, get my bag, make my way all the way back, and still have this rash of a woman stuck to me… new bag it is.

My first stop is an odds and ends stand. I peruse the bags selection—don't want a purse, don't want a handbag… shopping trolley?

That could work. And it's thirty-six hundred Ryou! Not a bad price. I get one of the workers' attention and I try to haggle the price down even more—I have no emotional attachment to them, so what do I care? And I get them to drop it to three-thousand even! Worth it.

So, with my new trolley being tugged along behind me, I stroll deeper into the market, over into the perishable goods section—mostly by following my nose. I get to my favourite chocolate wares dealer—he has other merchandise, but nothing I care about. I get my chocolate bars, my mousses, some muffins—all the chocolaty goodness my black little heart can indulge on.

With that handled, I pass by a food stall. I take six orders of takeout—two rice, two noodles, two curry rice, all with some meats and veggies. After that it's the greengrocer. I get my cherries, some apricots… hmm, they have peaches, and they're on sale. Couldn't hurt. I get two more cartons of peaches as well.

"You need more vegetables in your diet." Someone is feeling _helpful_ —and gets ignored for it. With my haul paid for and stowed in my brand new trolley, I move on. Hmm. I'm running a bit low on teas. "And why don't you have seasonings in your apartment? Don't you cook?"

Tea. Let's see. They have chamomile, oolong, rooibos, some funny fruity variants, lemon grass—all properly prepared and dried for ease of storage and use. I hate oolong—too bitter and frothy. I can relax well enough on my own, so chamomile is out. Rooibos is nice and sweet—if lightly sweet. I think I'll take the lemon grass and rooibos. Perfect. I take a tin of each and pay the worker for it.

With the basics dealt with, I—

"What about rice? And why do you get takeout?"

ANNOYING! And noisy!

I go to the book stand, going through the selection. Romance novels… none I haven't read. Historically accurate fiction—cute from time to time, but still none I haven't read. Non-fiction? No thank you, life sucks enough as it is. Cookbook? Me and stoves don't get a—

"You should get that one. Learning to cook is important." Are you still here?

Tourist guides to—

"You know you love reading. And you love eating. So why not combine the two and get a book on food?"

Tourist guides to—

"You know I'm not going away. So ignoring me is just making this harder on yourself than it has to be."

TOURIST GUIDES TO—

"And while we're on the subject. Why don't you have any pots, pans, plates, or basically anything you need in your cupboards?"

"My, my, Aya-chan. It almost sounds as if you're living out of your suitcase," the stall worker butts in. I've been coming to this stand for years, and she's barely ever gotten a word out of me. She still tries every time I come. "She's right, you know. You need to make a house a home if you're ever going find yourself a nice young man."

That's ni—

"And what about getting a bookshelf. You have your books in a pile on the floor."

I groan, glaring up at the heavens as I wordlessly ask why I'm stuck with _that one_.

"Hmm?" The stand worker can't seem to make sense of that. I glare at her, warning her to mind her own business. "You've been coming here for some time now, Aya-chan. Tell me, what are you looking for?"

I agree, getting down to business is more effective. "Knowing her, she's looking for books she hasn't read." Okay, little miss helpful. Kindly shut the hell up!

"I see. Yes, that sounds about right. Still the little bookworm that devoured her parents' library," the stall worker gushes. As a book stand owner, I'm sure she shares my love for literature. "Why don't you pass by my son's store then? He has a much wider selection. And he has shinobi books as well?" She's looking at my headband as she says that last part. Hmm. Couldn't hurt.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"I'm getting you this." And I'm ignoring you, Hyuuga. "And you should get this as well." Shutting up is still an option. "And why not get this?"

Walking away from her, I stroll deeper into the bookstore. She's going absolutely batshit crazy in the cookbook section. And she can do that well enough on her own—I'm not needed for that. I go over into the romance section, finding… hmm? Ronin, by Kouzuki Urabe? Hmm, he's a really good author. Definitely going with this one.

There's also another book that intrigues me. In her arms, by Maeda Hisa. I take it out, looking at the cover art. A woman wrapping her arms around another woman from behind? Could be interesting—reading about how stupid guys can be in a relationship does get old, fast.

Taking my two choices, I go to another row. The erotica section? Thanks, but I'll pass. Those books are all the same—guys with fifty inch junk, and women with IQs in the lower fifties falling for jackasses that treat them badly, but know how to play their body.

Going over another row, I find myself in the… why are the shinobi section and the erotica section so close together? Whatever.

I peruse the titles. Introduction to chakra—read it at least twenty times. Unusual jutsu styles, by Uchiha Sadana—could be interesting. Genjutsu made easy, by Yuuhi Kurei—I am more of an illusions type, so I take that. The magic of the elements, by Sarutobi Sakurai—couldn't hurt.

The sound of silence, by… author unknown. That's weird. It's in plastic, so I can't check inside to see what it's about. And the blurb isn't helping any.

 _Though an unusual style, Sound-release is rather handy. Like it, or don't. I like it._

Well. I'll be bored this week with nothing going on. So, why not? I take that as well. This should be interest…ing…?

"You should get this one as well," Hyuuga grabs three books, but I don't check which. I roll my eyes walking to the counter with my purchases, dragging my trolley behind me as I balance the books as best I can.

"Oi! I'm dragging you to the blacksmith after this!" I ignore her once again, unconcerned with whatever she hopes to achieve.

"Well, well. Little Namiki Aya, what a surprise!" The man behind the counter seems to know me. He probably recognizes me because I look so much like mama—I hear that all the time. I ignore him for the most part, making sure he gets my books checked. I run the numbers in my head, finding that he screwed up and give me twice the discount he should—I'm not correcting that.

"So how's your parents doing these days? I swear, running a store is little different than being a hermit sometimes." Ignoring that, I fish out the exact change and pay him. "Oh, hey. Have you seen Naruto-kun around lately? It's kinda strange seeing you without him chasing after you."

Yeah, I'm not commenting on that either. "You know—"

Monologues. Why does no one understand I don't like to talk?

I bow to the man, thanking him wordlessly, and tu—

"Hold your horses, missy. I just need to get these paid for," Hyuuga all but demands. I didn't ask for you to follow me, you know. I start carefully arranging my books in the trolley, trying not to crush anything under their weight—that it's also giving her a moment is purely coincidental.

"Oh, you haven't heard? Miwako-sensei died almost seven years ago."

"A-ah… and here I was going on and on about her and Satsuma. Aya-chan, I'm so…"

I push the door open, leaving without another word. Unfortunately, the door is on one of those slow-close mechanisms. "She's taking it as hard as I expected. Miwako was her whole world. Please, Hitomi-san. Let me know if there's anything my family can do for her?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I walk home. I don't know what Hyuuga wants to do. I don't care what she wants to do. I'm done dealing with people today. Once I'm inside, I lock the door and set about putting everything away. The fridge is looking happy and full, so I won't complain too much.

With the food stuff put away, I fish out the books I bought, setting them on the growing tower of books against the wall. The door starts unlocking itself. Hyuuga no doubt wants to prove a point. Still, best to prove my own.

I go into the cupboard, taking one of my tantos. I unsheathe it slowly, waiting for that one to make her move. The door swings open. I—

"Aya! A hand!" There's an urgency in Hyuuga's voice that I sets me on edge. I look around the door, from where I was planning on ambushing her. A mop of blonde hair, matted with blood.

There's a thud, likely Hyuuga dropping the bag she's been carrying. My eyes only care about Uzumaki. What the hell happened? He never leaves his house the day after something major happens. His headband is covered in blood as well, as is most of his face.

I drop the tanto, uncaring where it falls. Rushing into my bathroom, I grab a few shirts and throw them into the sink. I turn on the water and drench them, before taking one and rushing back out to check on him. I wipe his face, grateful the blood comes off quickly and doesn't reveal any weeping wounds.

Over and over, I wipe away the worst of it. When the shirt is all but useless, I go into the bathroom and toss it into the washing machine. I grab another shirt and turn off the faucet, rushing back out to my patient.

It takes almost fifteen minutes, and another three shirts, but I get him clean. I see not so much as one cut still open, but there are a lot of pink slits decorating his face and chest—new skin. Hmm? I don't understand it, but I don't need to.

"Let's get him in my futon. He needs his rest," I demand. She doesn't fight me, luckily. I go ahead, pulling back the sheets and moving out of the way so she can lay him down. I cover him, tuck him in, and check him over one last time—just to be safe.

I open his eyes one at a time, glad to see his pupils dilate almost instantly. No obvious signs of a concussion or cerebral contusion.

"I'm sorry. I didn't trust taking him to Konoha General," Hyuuga murmurs, regret obvious in her tone. "I don't trust them. Not with him."

"It's fine," I assure her. "But I'm no medic. Someone needs to check him."

"I'll report in. There's one person alive I can swear blindly would take care of him." Then why didn't you take him straight there? Whatever.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I spend the next hour reading. Genjutsu made easy is quite an interesting book—and I'm already loving the theory it explains. I keep my vigil near Uzumaki, but far enough away to allow for him to get up without feeling threatened, if it comes to that.

His breathing is regular, peaceful. I'm grateful for that. And it's so quiet here that I can hear his heartbeat, if I really focus.

The door swings open, no doubt Hyuuga is back with whoever this person is that she trusts. I sniff, smelling dogs and two women. "Aya?"

"In here," I call back, turning the page. Ooh, Demonic Illusion – Hell Viewing jutsu! It explains what to focus on, how to mould the chakra, and what you can prep the genjutsu with. This is interesting. I mark the page, closing the book—I'm trying that one later.

"Inuzuka Hana, Namiki Aya. The brat you already know." I study the gentle features, the long brown hair captured in a ponytail. The typical red fang like tattoos on her cheeks. And that she smells like Inuzuka from my old class doesn't help—he was insufferable.

Inuzuka doesn't bother with me, she goes right to her patient. Her hands glow green, her three dogs lining up behind her to keep her safe—as wise tactic. I sniff, deciding these three dogs are brothers—they smell too much alike to be anything else. They seem to be purebreds as well, given they look so much alike—half-breeds have far more variation from dog to dog. Their backs and heads are covered in dark grey fur, but their undersides have almost a silvery white fur.

I can't identify the specific breed, but they're about the size of a Labrador Retriever.

"Hmm. Are you sure he was injured? I'm not finding anything," Inuzuka announces. I sigh, relieved. I don't know what's going on, but if she says nothing's wrong, I'm willing to accept this as a stroke of luck. A pair of black eyes takes me in. "Did you do anything?"

"No." I open my book, figuring there's nothing that needs my immediate attention.

"You're… Namiki Satsuma's girl." Yeah. Medic knowing papa. I'm so shocked. Back to Hell Viewing. Let's see what secrets this low ranked jutsu kept from me this long.

"She's been studying her dad's medical textbooks," Hyuuga once again sticks her nose where it doesn't belong. "I'm half convinced she'll take up the healing arts."

"Interesting. Well, if she needs a tutor. I might be able to spare some time." That's nice. Silence is nicer, though.

"And a Namiki. You… yeah. I'd definitely take you as a student, when you're ready." Noted. "So anyway. Naruto-kun shouldn't have any long-term problems from his injuries. He may need some Fucidin, but given those cuts you brought me here to deal with are already closed, any zink oxide cream would do. He might opt to skip it, knowing him. It's mostly precautionary, anyway."

"Any idea how he got this messed up?" I was here, so no. Sorry.

"No clue, Doc. I found him crawling through a side alley and dragged him here."

"Well, you may want to bring him to T&I. Yamashiro Aoba owes me a favour, so if he mindwalks Naruto, we should know…" I look up, wondering why she trailed off like that. Hyuuga is giving her an incredulous look. Something to do with the Nine-tails, no doubt. "Good point. Well, just ask him. Something's got to give."

"Alright. Thanks. I'll report the incident at the Tower. We'll see what Hokage-sama has to say about this." I fight the snort, knowing nothing will come of it—per the norm.

The pair of them leave together—Hyuuga locking the door behind her. Silence returns. Sweet, sweet solitude.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Another three hours pass. Nothing to be heard but the gentle scraping of pages being turned, and the easy breathing of a still unconscious blond. I find it to my liking.

Already I have the steps memorised for sixteen gentjutsus I want to try, but I'm not in any position to try them. Not yet. I need to work on my chakra control first. Don't get me wrong, I'm decent. But 'decent' isn't a word mama and papa would ever tolerate from their only child.

"Nnnnnn," blondie complains, stirring in my futon. I turn the page, wondering when he's going to notice his surroundings. I start reading up on the theory of Demonic Illusion – Tree Bind Death, a B-Rank genjutsu.

"Where… am I?" he murmurs.

"You're safe," I drone, not looking up from the gorgeous theory I can't wait to put into practice. It seems I need to saturate the ground with the moulded chakra, using the earth itself as a weapon against my victims. "You're in my apartment."

Turning the page again, I find three related genjutsus explained—each a type of paralysis technique.

"Well, at least it's you," he murmurs, his voice weighed down with something. I can't tell what.

"Come, you need to eat," I say, dog-earing the page and closing my book. I set it aside, already moving into my living room, into the kitchenette. While I'm busy rummaging through my fridge, taking out some takeout and the last pack of lychees—I should have known I was almost out—I hear hesitant shuffling in the other room growing louder.

Blondie makes his way over, plopping down to my low table without a word just as I turn the water cooker on.

I bring the lychees to the table, setting them down. "You got into a fight. And you lost," I drone. He nods, not bothering to deny it. "Your taijutsu sucks. Worst in the class."

He looks away, hating how well I know his record. "Why did you leave your apartment?"

"The old man called me in," he mutters.

"Ah." The water is boiling, so I go and make a pot of tea. I set the pot and two cups onto the table, pouring for Uzumaki, then myself. It'll be too hot, but it should cool in time. So I go into another cupboard, grabbing two bowls—one larger than the other. I set them both on the counter, pouring hot water into the bigger one, before setting the smaller one into it.

With that handled, I grab two boxes of takeout, emptying one of them into the bowl to warm up. It'll take longer this way, but it's fine.

I go back to the table, sitting down and sipping my tea as I grab a few lychees. "Your apartment is across the hall. If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

Stuffing two of the succulent fruits into my mouth at once, I ignore the wide-eyed doe he's impersonating. With nothing better to do, I grab another lychee, sipping my tea.

"Aren't you gonna ask what happened?"

"I just did," I set my teacup down, sucking in another lychee, "but if you have more to say, I'm willing to listen."

"It doesn't matter."

"Then don't bring it up." Another two lychees enter my mouth, the sweetness swimming into every nook and cranny, flirting with my taste buds. "Your tea will get cold."

Ten minutes pass without an utterance from either of us. I go get the bowl with the now warm takeout, grabbing a pair of chopsticks to go with it. I set them down in front of Uzumaki.

"Eat."

Sitting back down, I study him as he shovels it all in. His eyes droop slightly—world-weary eyes that strike a familiar chord with me. His motions are mechanical, needful only because I tell him so. He's depressed again. He's been slipping deeper and deeper into this latest depression. It isn't hard to tell, and it's not like I don't know every plausible sign pointing to this silent killer.

When the bowl's empty, I give him a moment to drink his tea before I get on his case. "Good. Get up."

I move over to an empty section of the room, where I usually train. He doesn't move. "Your taijutsu needs work. Get over here."

"Wha… buh…"

"Sometime today, Uzumaki."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" _Sigh_. Hyuuga, you don't live here. "Oh. Looks like someone's up. And training, too!" Yes, thank you for noticing. Now stop distracting him!

Uzumaki throws a sloppy right punch. I knock his punch off course with my right elbow, bringing him closer to me, then I knee him in the gut. "Oof!"

Don't get sloppy, Uzumaki. I'll notice.

"Again." He throws a proper punch this time, breathing hard as he strikes my elbow. Better. I throw a punch at him, and he elbows it. "Again."

We go back and forth, trading punches for elbows to toughen up his fists and elbows. I'd done this training since I could walk, so it's not doing anything for me.

"I got you some pots and pans. And dishes. And more chopsticks. And teacups. And bowls." _Sigh_. Just shut up, Hyuuga. You're distracting him.

"Break," I order when he flinches. It's not like Hyuuga is going to shut the hell up anyway. "Better."

"Heh. Thanks, Aya-chan." He rubs the back of his head, grinning bright as the sun. I wave it off. "Say, you're pretty good. How come you aren't top kunoichi?"

"Because I have nothing to prove." I go back into my room grabbing The sound of silence. I've done enough reading on genjutsu for one day. Time to spice it up a bit.

"Oh, Aya-chan? Hana gave me some scrolls for you to study. Medical theory, and the first chakra control exercise. She did say you should learn tree-walking and water-walking before trying it, though. So I'm taking you down later to work on that with you." Hmm. Maybe having Hyuuga-san around won't be that bad.

"Sounds good." I sit down to the low table, setting the new book in front of me and opening it up to the introduction.

"I want to see how good you are with those blades of yours. And I want to see how far you've come with taijutsu, seeing as you feel confident enough to teach Naruto-kun _that style_." Whatever.

"Huh? What style is she teaching me?" Uzumaki pesters Hyuuga-san as she's washing the dishes she bought.

"It's called Muay Thai. It's a Namiki style that her mother taught her since she could walk. She didn't happen to teach you to incorporate blades, did she?" Is that last part for me or for him?

"Y… your mom's style?"

I ignore them, going over what this 'author unknown' has to say about an obscure style. Hmm. Sound-release is best known for combining with genjutsus? That sounds like something I will enjoy learning.

"Yeah. Miwako-sensei was really a hardass. She wouldn't accept anything but perfection. Aya-chan's no doubt the same." That's nice. But it's also distracting when I'm trying to read.

Turning to the index, I find that the first section of the book is dedicated to combining sound-release with genjutsus. Interesting. I turn to chapter one, already going through the details of how to infuse any sound I make with chakra, and using said chakra to induce a genjutsu.

"By the way, little miss stubborn. I took the liberty of going to the blacksmith for you. Seeing as you're already studying that sound-release book, I figure you're gonna need a weapon you can combine with it." That's nice, but it doesn't help me to understand what they mean by 'saturating the effective area with the sequential chakra'. So please be quiet.

"So what'd you get her?!" Noisy!

I glare at the pair of them, warning them that I'm losing my patience.

"A few things. Twin battle fans, a flute, gloves to protect her delicate little hands, and poisons to coat her blades with. You won't be allowed to work with those poisons until you've either built up an immunity, or have the antidote on hand." Yeah, yeah. Shut up already.

"Oh, and I got you some scrolls with taijutsu styles for the fans and flute. So you'll have more than enough to entertain yourself with."

Hmm, so if I flood my vocal chords with the moulded chakra for a genjutsu, I essentially cast a genjutsu through soundwaves? That's cool. There's even a simplified E-rank genjutsu here—Soothing Touch jutsu? It's so simple!

All I have to do is mould the chakra, focusing the command 'show something that soothes' into it! Alright. I'm trying this later. After that, I'm working on that Hell Viewing jutsu.

"I don't get it," Uzumaki mutters.

"I've got a mission. I leave in the morning." I ball my fist. Those words. Always those words. Before she leaves, she'll promise she'll be back. And it's a hit or miss—will she, or won't she.

"When are you getting back?"

"A few weeks. Maybe longer, if things drag out." Yeah. Then, if she gets back, she'll be a mess for a few days. Nightmares will wake her up at all hours of the night. If she's lucky she won't have any major injuries—that only takes longer to get over. "Aya. You know where to find the Inuzuka main house?"

"No." Just because she offered, doesn't mean I'm taking her up on it.

"Alright." Ah, sweet sil— "Let's go. I'm going to show you. And I'm bringing you by another person I can trust to keep an eye on you."

A growl leaps up from my throat, my lips creasing into a snarl as I glaring daggers into her, my head tilting forward. I feel my whole body tensing, readying itself to pounce at the slightest provocation.

"Don't give me that. I told you I'm not taking any chances. I won't be here. So I'm making sure you have someone while I'm gone."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **KNOCK-KNOCK!**

"Yoshino-san! I hope I'm not interrupting anything!"

Why am I here? I should be training, or studying, or maybe just reading. I don't know. I should be doing something. But being dragged into the Clans' District, onto what can only be Nara lands, given I smell deer. What does any of this have to do with me?

The door swings open. "Ah, Hitomi-chan! And you brought Aya-chan and Naruto-kun with you. How lovely to see you again after all these years."

A tall woman with long, black hair stands there. Her ebony eyes take us in, smiling brightly, even though her lips barely crease upwards. She's wearing a deep burgundy housedress with an apron—and she smells of a warm meal being cooked. There's also… something else. Something familiar. Not only that she smells like Nara-san from our class, but… something from _back then_. Hyuuga is no doubt trying to coin me off on another of mama's old friends—the friends that didn't bother to piss on me since mama died.

"Oh, where are my manners. I'm Nara Yoshino." She steps back, swinging the door open further and beckoning to us. "Won't you please come in?"

Hyuuga gently places her hand on my shoulder, nudging me into the house. In her touch I can almost feel her begging me to be on my best behaviour—or is that my imagination? I sigh, walking in ahead of her, into the…

Sniffing, this whole place smells like… a home. The wooden floor was recently oiled. The walls and sparse furnishings are tidy and dust free. Yet there's an air… a soul of a family living here. I smell that three people live here. Nara Shikamaru from our class doubtlessly is one of them.

Nara leads us to a long low table, inviting us to sit. "Tea will only be a moment," she assures us.

I plop onto the ground, staring at an uninteresting spot on the table. I can't believe I agreed to this. Being carted off into some perfect stranger's house just because Hyuuga can't accept that I'm just fucking dandy on my own.

"A… Aya-chan?" I groan, my eyes rolling up into my head. Yamanaka Ino. Of all the people to run into. "And Naruto-kun? What are you guys going here?"

I glare at Hyuuga, letting that be my only answer. "I… I don't understand. Aya-chan, I spent the last two weeks begging for you to hang out with us!"

My hand shoots up, massaging my temples to ease the migraine I know is coming. Now that Hyuuga knows that, she'll no doubt pester me until she gets EVEN MORE out of me.

"Hey, Ino-chan! What's up?!" Good boy, Uzumaki. Sic 'er!

"Oh, hey, Naruto-kun. Seriously, though. Why are you guys here? And with a branch member of the Hyuuga clan, too?"

"Sorry about this, Yamanaka-san. I'm Hyuuga Hitomi. Aya's mom was my sensei, so I'm kinda barging in on her life when she wants it least." She's honest, if nothing else. "But I'm going to be out on a mission for a few weeks, and I don't want this little firecracker to be on her own. You wouldn't mind keeping—"

"Hyuuga."

"Keeping an eye on her for me, would you?" she finishes, stubborn as an ox.

"Of course not! Like I said, I've been pestering her for two whole weeks! You being here is a kami-send!"

I stand, already making for the door.

"Aya-chan. Tea's ready." That's nice, Nara. "Please sit down. I also have some snacks in the oven, though they won't be ready for a while yet. I hadn't expected you three so soon."

I turn to Hyuuga, glaring at her. I see her wordlessly begging me to stay, to play nice for a little longer. "I don't play house, Hyuuga," I drone.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to sit down with me, so I can introduce you to your mother's classmate," she pleads. "Please, Aya-chan. For me." She pats the empty spot beside her.

Nara sets her things on the table, her gaze instantly shifting to me. "It's alright, Aya-chan. I know this is a bit much for you right now."

A _bit_ much? I get someone barging into my life and making every decision for me. Someone who warned Kitou about every trick I have up my sleeve. Someone that keeps breaking into my apartment, and doesn't seem to care about the legality of that. And someone that is now dragging me into someone else's house that didn't give two shits about me.

This is Twilight Zone level too much, okay!

Nara strolls over to me, stopping just shy of my personal bubble. "It's alright." She offers her hand, like I'm some lost puppy needing a sniff of her.

"Cute," I drone. I smelled her half way across the room.

"Sorry… old habit. You hated me touching you before you got a smell of me," she soothes. "May I have a hug?"

"No."

She opens her arms wide, her eyes warm and welcoming. "Please? I know you miss hugs the most, Aya-chan."

I walk over to Hyuuga, plopping down beside her and leaving Nara and her undesirable touching fetish to sort itself out.

"Ino-chan? Please do me a favour," Nara seems unaffected. Hyuuga's arm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me deeper into her warmth. I sigh, shaking my head in dismay. "Don't try to touch her without her permission. Namikis are practically wolves. They don't like being touched by anyone not of their pack."

She isn't saying that for Yamanaka-san. She's saying that so I'll know she understands. I know this game well.

The look in Yamanaka-san's eyes tells me she's filing that away. She's curious what else she doesn't know about me, what else she feels she needs to know about me. Being of the Yamanaka clan, she no doubt has an incessant urge to understand the people around her—all things regarding the mind are their bread and butter, after all.

"Alright, auntie. May I join you?"

"Please do, sweetie."

 _Lovely_.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Hyuuga's teacup is set on the table, the last of the snacks having already been devoured and now washed down. Knowing exactly what's coming, I lay my head in Hyuuga's lap, hoping to block the worst of it out.

"Yoshino-san. As I explained on the phone, I will be leaving tomorrow for a few weeks. However, Aya-chan has been purposely dist—"

I pinch her thigh, refusing to let her air my dirty laundry.

"She's battling depression," Nara finishes. "I remember the signs, Hitomi-san. I know what it means." _Lovely_.

"I won't be able to keep an eye on her. That's why—"

I pinch her thigh even harder. Shut up already!

"Aya-chan? Would you like to come here while Hitomi-chan is away?"

"No." Hyuuga combs through my hair with her fingers, trying to sooth me in any way she can. She's probably hoping for some kind of different response.

"Aya-chan, please," comes the predictable begging. "Do you really want me worrying about you while…?"

Stupid tears.

Stupid emotions.

Neither ever did me any good, not unless it was to manipulate people. So why…? Why is this idiot that can't understand I don't need her… why does the thought of her getting hurt… of her getting ki… why is it affecting me so strongly?

"I'm sorry, Aya-chan. I didn't mean to say it like that." She scratches my scalp, trying to calm me down. That I'm gripping her pant leg so tight my fingers are turning white might have tipped her off. "Please. I'm not asking for much. Just come here during the day, spend some time with Yoshino-san and her family. Please."

I shake my head, no. I don't want to be around people, Hyuuga! I hate being around people. People only ever hurt you, or die on you.

Her hand caresses my cheek, wiping away my tears. I look up at her, seeing those seemingly soulless white eyes gazing down on me. I feel her heart aching for me. I… I don't understand. I just don't understand.

"Please?" she begs, her touch trembling with the fears sweltering within her. I… I don't want this weighing on her. If she isn't focused… if she gets distracted even for a moment… she'll… she might…

I sigh, more tears cascading down. I sigh, tired and worn out. I nod.

"Thank you." I sigh yet again, hating that I'm giving into her so often. "Yoshino-san. She's starting her medical training. She has the scrolls she needs, but needs someone to help her with tree- and water-walking. She's also been reading up on genjutsus and I gave her some scrolls on two unique fighting styles. She also needs a scroll to teach her how to play the flute, the blacksmith I went to didn't have one. I know it's a lot to ask, but if you could assist her in any way?"

"Of course, Hitomi-san. I'll do what I can. For her and Naruto-kun." Whatever.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 2_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: The thing with stories that haunt me? They compel me to write.  
_**


	3. The Lone Wolf

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 3 – The Lone Wolf**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Don't do this to me. Please. Don't. Not again. Not again.

"I'll be back, Aya-chan. I swear it," she murmurs, her arms wrapped around me so tight it almost feels like I won't fall apart.

Mama said that. That she wouldn't be gone more than a week. That was seven years ago.

No more words. She just holds me, my head lain against her, letting me listen to her heartbeat, to her soft, even breathing.

No more words. Words won't cut it anymore. Show me, Hyuuga. Come back to me. Come back alive.

She pushes me back, her touch gentle. I look up at her, tears already streaming down my cheeks. She wipes away my tears, squatting down to my height. "Remember. Once you've learned the water-walking skill, you need to start on the chakra control exercise in the scroll I gave you. Once you've got that down, go find Hana. She'll want to test you, to see if you really can. Then you two can discuss where you go from there."

I nod, begging her with my eyes again to not leave. Too many have left, not enough have come back.

"Yoshino-san expects you to come by every day. No exceptions. You have team placements coming up, she knows that. But seeing as Shikamaru is also in the team placements, she'll know if you try to pull a stunt. Please, just…"

"C-come b-back," I beg, my voice trembling.

"I will. Don't miss your appointment with Kitou-sensei. I already told Yoshino-san about it. She'll be going with you, just in case."

I wrap my arms around her shoulders, my tears streaming down her neck.

"Be safe, Aya-chan. I… I can't lose you. Alright?" I nod. "If you stay safe. I promise I will, too." I nod, holding her even tighter.

How… how did you do it? How did you break through every defence I'd so carefully put up? How did you get in?

"I have to go." No… you don't. I don't want you to go. Please. Please, don't go. Don't leave me. "I'll be back before you know it." You're heartless, you know. Barging into my life, giving me someone to hold on to. And you're already leaving.

Fine, then. Go. See if I care.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **knock-knock.**

Oh well. No one's home. I tri—

"Sorry for taking so long. Ah, Aya-chan. Good morning," Nara greets me. _Sigh_. There's goes that hope. Plan B it is.

"You see me. I was here." I wave, leaving.

"Don't you want to come in? I made more than enough." And you should have been at the table eating it. That's why I knocked so damn soft. "I made more than enough. And everyone's waiting on you."

"N—"

"Naruto-kun's here." _Sigh_. She moves well out of the way, to show she isn't going to try to touch me. "I won't allow anyone to make you uncomfortable. I promise."

I enter, keeping well away from her to not give her false hope. I move to the table, where everyone's seated. I don't greet anyone, or look at anyone. I plop down beside Uzumaki.

"Mornin'!" he greets me, grinning bright as the midday sun.

"N-nn." I look away, unwilling to see his reaction. I don't even know why I'm here. I don't want to be here. I didn't want any of this. Why can't these people just leave me be? They've been so good at it.

I do my best to keep my distance from everyone. I don't fight Nara when she piles on a bunch of veggies with my meal. I eat everything in my plate. Even when she serves me seconds and thirds, I eat it all without a word.

I drink the tea I'm offered—all three cups of it—before murmuring my thanks for the meal. There, Hyuuga. Propriety has been sated. Can I go?

"Did Hitomi-chan show you the tree-walking exercise?" Nara is showing herself to be every bit as stubborn as Hyuuga. I nod anyway. "How far did you get with it?" I shrug, not willing to get into this with her. Hyuuga asked her to help, she didn't ask me to cooperate. All I was asked was to show up every day I was available. I showed up—I'm here. My job is done.

"Hey, Aya-chan. You mind helpin' me with that thing you were showing me?" Uzumaki all but begs. I nod, figuring it couldn't hurt to get him on track with his training. We just need to wait for the food to settle.

"Forty-five minutes," I mutter. He grins, nodding so fast I can't imagine him not getting seasick from it. He doesn't puke on me, so it's fine either way.

"Would you mind helping me with the dishes in the meantime, Aya-chan?" Nara asks. I look at the table full of dishes, seeing a lot of them were placed there because of me. I couldn't taste any of them, but I recognize them by sight—deer kebabs, rabbit stakes, baked bacon—and those were the exact dishes she made for me. Just for me. The things mama loved cooking for me, so I know that's why she made them—time consuming as they are.

"S-sorry," I mutter, feeling horrible after she gave me so much food to eat.

"It's quite alright," she assures me, already gathering the dishes. "Maybe next time." She hoists a stack of plates, bringing them into the kitchen by herself. The teacups are all still here, as are most of the silverware used.

Heaving a sigh, I start to gather them for her, piling them on the tray meant for the tea. Between all the cups, the teapot, and the all the serving spoons, there isn't a lot of room for error. I need to be careful, or something will fall and possibly break.

I grab the tray by the cut-out handles, moving slowly towards the kitchen. I'm not helping with the dishes, but at least I can help bring the remainder to the kitchen for her. Why those lazy good-for-nothings aren't helping isn't something I try to understand.

Then again, that lazy ass didn't do a whole lot in class either. Oh well.

Coming up to the doorway, I—

Nara comes barrelling out of the kitchen, bumping right into me. Everything on the tray shakes from impact. One of the teacups falls.

I aim my foot to catch it right in the arch, with my foot tilted down so the muscles aren't bunched up. I raise my foot and quickly drop it again to match the speed of the teacup, to minimize the impact, then slow it down so I don't break it. I then tilt my foot up, so the teacup is trapped between my foot and the lowest part of my shin.

"I'm so sorry, Aya-chan. Are you okay?" she sounds worried. I nod, wondering how in the hell I'm going to figure this out. I'm not limber enough to somehow get the teacup onto the tray. I'm not strong enough to hold the tray one-handed. And I don't want Nara touching me, or even coming close enough to grab the teacup herself.

"It's okay. Let the teacup roll off your foot. I can take it from there," she offers. It's not ideal, but it'll have to do. I tilt my foot down, letting the teacup roll away. She squats, scooping up the errant dish.

With little reverence, I chase her deeper into the kitchen and plop the tray onto the counter, somewhere. Well, I've done my good deed for the decade.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"If you want to train in our backyard, it's quite alright," Nara assures us. I don't even acknowledge the offer. I bow to her, wordlessly thank her for the meal, and I leave. I've played nice long enough.

I lead Uzumaki back to my apartment, letting him in before closing and locking the door. Is it odd that I half hoped Hyuuga would be here? That she would have broken into my apartment again, that she would be standing there, ready to tell me what she's done without my permission.

Forget it, not worth the brain cells.

We spend the next hour working on toughening up his hands and elbows. Then we switch to his shins and knees. Continuously trading blows, never moving away from each other, never shying away from the pain—life's only constant.

Once I'm sort of confident he's not a complete jackass, I go back to my books. Hyuuga helped me figure out the Hell Viewing jutsu last night, so I know how genjutsus work in theory.

I turn to scroll she'd left on my table for me. She explained that if I successfully cast a genjutsu on the seal, it'll glow white. If I screw up, it'll glow red. This way I won't have to practice on anyone. I nod, doing the sequence.

 **Snake – Rat – Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing jutsu!**

The seal glows red. Okay, too much chakra. The balance is super delicate. I need to ease the jutsu onto the victim, not beat them with it.

 **Snake – Rat – Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing jutsu.**

The seal glows red. Hmm, maybe I'm not focusing enough on the instructions? I run through the theory in my head. See what you fear most. See what you fear most. See what you fear most.

 **Snake – Rat – Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing jutsu.**

The seal glows red. Fine. Stop going so fast then.

 **Snake.**

I flood my handseal with my chakra, letting it mould slowly.

 **Rat.**

I flood my handseal with the chakra that was just moulded, letting it change again. Then I focus the moulded chakra into my eyes, projecting it into the seal.

 **Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing jutsu.**

The seal glows white. HA! Got you that time! I was going too fast.

 **Snake – Rat – Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing jutsu.**

The seal glows white. Okay. This is better. Much better. Now think. Mama always said that a jutsu isn't mastered until you can cast is without handseals. So I just gotta keep at it until I can mould that same chakra mix. That means I need to cast is so often that my body instinctually remembers the mix.

 **Snake – Rat – Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing jutsu.**

The seal glows white. Thank kami-sama this doesn't take too much chakra.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

A day passes. Then two. A third soon follows. The pattern doesn't change. Breakfast at Nara's, with her trying harder and harder every day to get me to feel at ease—and failing spectacularly. Training Uzumaki in Muay Thai, teaching him a few tactics he can use after I feel he isn't a complete waste of time. Then seeing to my own training.

I haven't tried the tree-walking thing. I don't want to. Hyuuga said she'd show me. She didn't. We lost track of time sparring that night, so we only really dealt with taijutsu and the scroll she gave me. She asked me to let Nara help me with the tree-walking, but no. Just no.

There are only so many things I'm willing to bend on. And letting some worthless…

Breathe, Aya. Just breathe.

 **KNOCK-KNOCK!**

Uzumaki is such an attention whore. He doesn't need to knock that loud. "Oi! Yoshino-san! We're here, let's get the party started!"

The door swings open, revealing the lady of the house with a bright smile in her eyes, just as has been the case every time. She's wearing a blue house dress this time, with the same apron. And the scent of a warm meal clings to every part of her. She always seems to be in the kitchen when we come over, yet she's at the door before I get tempted to leave—or actually leave, seeing as the temptation never goes away.

We're invited in, Nara moving well out of the way per the norm. Only this time, Yamanaka and Chouji-san are also here. My tummy does a little flip when our eyes meet. Why… why is Chouji-san here?

I move to the table, plopping down next to Uzumaki as I have every morning. I don't look at anyone, I don't greet them. I don't acknowledge that they breathe. Nothing. If they respect my personal bubble, they can do as they please.

"Hey, guys! Mornin'!" Uzumaki does his thing, making small talk with them. I focus on this interesting smudge on the table. Evidence I've sat here every time, and that Nara is having more and more trouble keeping up with the amount I shovel in—she strikes me as liking her home spotless.

"Hey, Naruto-kun. How've you been?" Yamanaka asks, pretending I can't feel her eyes on me.

 **KNOCK Knock KNOCK-KNOCK!**

"Auntie?! Did you want me to get that for you?!" Yamanaka offers.

"Would you? Thank you, Ino-chan," Nara calls back from the kitchen. I sniff, figuring Nara has plans for today. Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata. My respect for Inuzuka is grudging, at best, but we understand each other. Hyuuga-san, however… the only thing I like about her is her taste in men—she dislikes Uchiha.

"Sorry for taking so long. Good morning, Kiba-kun, Hinata-chan. Won't you please come in? Everyone's already sitting to the table."

"Arf!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Good morning, Akamaru-chan! How's our big boy doing this morning?"

"Arf!"

"And who's your little friend? I didn't know you took a second puppy." I sniff, wondering what she means.

My eyes widen. Inuzuka's up and lost his damn mind. That's a wolf pup. Not a halfbreed like they usually have, but an actual wolf pup. I turn, seeing a little one with fluffy grey and white fur sticking up in every direction. Big blue eyes take me in, sniffing the air nervously. I don't understand. What is a wolf pup doing here? Away from its pack, away from its mama.

She turns away from us moving over to a quiet corner, revealing her side. There's a patch with no fur, lined with stitches. I sniff, smelling antiseptic and sterile air hanging in her fur. She was kept in a veterinary clinic. No doubt rescued from whatever cut her up so bad.

"Oh, mornin' guys," Inuzuka greets, waving. "Listen, Namiki. Need a favour. That one needs to stretch her legs or she'll go nuts in the clinic. You mind helping keep an eye on her?"

"She strong enough for meats?" I ask, my eyes taking in the slight fear in the pup's eyes. She doesn't want to be here any more than I do.

"Yeah. Operation was last week. Trouble is, she ain't strong enough to be let loose in the wild, and it ain't safe letting her go inside the village." I nod, understanding all too well. She's stuck. It's comically poetic.

I click my tongue to get the pup's attention, meeting her gaze without a hint of fear—she looks away, understanding I'm the alpha in this relationship. I offer my hand, knowing she understands why I'm doing it. I don't move from the table, letting her know that her coming to me is a choice.

She eyes me, weary and unsure. I make a whining noise, then a soft half a bark, pointing my nose to my hand to invite her again. She gets up, but doesn't move. I snort, turning back to the table; _come or don't, it's your choice_.

The sound of nails tapping against wood. I sniff, her scent is a bit stronger now—she's coming closer, but slowly. "Is it just me, or those two understand each other a little too well?" Yamanaka sticks her nose where it doesn't belong.

I shift around, sitting cross-legged. All this noise, all the craziness, it'll be too much for the pup's instincts. A wolf pup needs to be around its own kind, around other apex predators. Keeping her with the Inuzukas isn't the better option—they work well with dogs, but dogs aren't wolves. Though just as social, wolves might as well be from a different planet.

It takes almost a minute, but she sidles up beside me, sniffing my leg to get a gauge of my scent, of my personality. I don't even look. If she's comfortable with me, she'll find a spot to lie near me. If not, she won't.

I feel little paws on my thigh, slowly she ambles over and into the little alcove I created for her—her side is still troubling her, if this takes so much out of her. She pads around, making a circle before she lays her head on the side of my leg. I lay my hand near her nose, letting her get used to my scent.

When she licks one of my fingers, I know she's at ease with me. I trail the finger over her nose, up between her eyes, to her ear and gently scratch and rub her to set her even more at ease. The last of the tension leaves her, and she lets out a mighty yawn.

I remove my hand, letting her fall asleep in my lap. Likely the first time she felt enough at ease to nap.

"Che. I figured you two'd hit it off. But jeez, Namiki. That one hasn't slept much since we found her." I figured. Dogs can't raise a wolf any more than frogs can learn to fly.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After breakfast, I find myself in a strange situation. The pup's still asleep, and she needs her rest—recovery isn't a fun stage, after all. But I don't want to stay here either. _Sigh_. Always between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Still. The pup's needs come before my wants.

So I sit tight. I ignore Yamanaka's curious gaze. I shake my head at Uzumaki's request to get down to training. And Nara's plea for help with the dishes falls on deaf ears.

"She needs you," Inuzuka starts trouble. I snort, but don't answer. "I'm serious, Namiki. Being at the clinic is only making her act out more. She doesn't trust us."

"You're dogs. Wolves will never belong with you," I drone. Yamanaka giggles, earning a glare from Inuzuka and myself.

"S-sorry," she mutters, looking away out of embarrassment. I snort, shaking my head in disgust. "You… weren't trying to insult him." Calling him a dog isn't an insult.

"Still waiting for a point, Inuzuka."

"We can't keep her at the clinic. I heard you'd be here, so I brought her along. She was gnawing on me the whole way here, tryin' everything to get away from me." I snort, smiling a special little smile for her tenacity. Inuzuka doesn't look amused. "If we can't get her a safe home to recover, we're gonna hafta put her down."

The smile dies.

"We got the stuff she needs. We got the space. But she ain't workin' with us, Namiki. We don' like it either."

"Who put you up to this?" I snarl, glaring holes into him.

"Put me up to this? You're off your rocker. Nee-san's gonna be pissed when she finds out I took the pup," he grinds out. I narrow my eyes, trying to puzzle him out. Inuzuka's no actor, and he's a poor liar to boot. "Believe me or don't. I don' care. But I saw that pup when she came in. That's she's still breathin' is a damn miracle. I ain't letting her go without a fight."

"Fine, fine," I give in, waving off his usual stupidity.

He narrows his eyes, shifting his head slightly to show confusion. "You'll take her?" Looking down at the little bundle gently snoring, I find myself feeling a sense of camaraderie with her. Neither of us belongs in this stupid situation. We should be with our pack, our family. Even if that means death, that's just how wolves are. We fight for our pack, live and die for our pack. We are nothing, no one, without our kind surrounding us—and that slowly drives us insane.

"Nn," I noise, nodding my assent.

"Th-thanks," he murmurs, looking away to hide his embarrassment. "So anyway. Not that I'm complainin', free food an' all. But why are we here?"

I snort, unamused. I've been asking myself that for days now. "A friend of mom's asked her to keep an eye on Aya," Nara-san drones, sighing to show how he feels about the whole thing. "She wants to be here almost as much as she wants to be at school." I snort, agreeing completely with him.

"Can't say I blame her about school. The Academy bored me to tears most days," Inuzuka grouses, thinking back on Umino-sensei's lectures. "But why wouldn't… You don't see them as pack."

"So he does have a brain," I drone.

"Hey, I ain't pickin' a fight wid you. So knock it off," he keeps his voice down, no doubt because of the pup. I roll my eyes, grateful but unwilling to stroke his planet sized ego any. "What about Naruto? You lettin' him closer than anyone at school."

"It doesn't matter. So drop it," I drone, unwilling to get into this.

"I call bullshit. If it didn' matter, you'd have broken him in half for gettin' so close." Yamanaka and Nara-san file that away for later, no doubt having learned something I'd rather they didn't. "This is me you're talkin' to, Namiki."

I roll my eyes, but don't comment.

"So that's how it is, huh." I look down at the pup, enjoying the sight of her slumber. I know Inuzuka's figured it out. I know he knows. I don't care. If he leaves me be, he can do as he pleases. "So, Ino. You still tryin' 'a figure her out?"

"If you wake this pup before she's ready, Inuzuka," I growl, warning him to mind his own damn business.

"Che," he snorts. "You think my answer to that is gonna be any different than my answer to nee-san? I can't stand you, Namiki. But you're pack all the same."

I glare at him, stare him down. I let him see the tension in my shoulders, showing him just how ready I am to rip his head off and piss down his throat.

"Figurin' her out is no different than figurin' out a wolf," he trudges on stubbornly. "If she wants to be touched, she'll touch you first. Don't look her in the eyes, it's a challenge. If you wanna let her come close, show your side or back." His gaze doesn't leave mine for a second of his monologue.

"Hnn," Yamanaka is definitely taking notes here. "What about continuously trying to talk to her?"

"Pointless. She'll ignore you if she ain't in the mood. Food'll only get her to stay put long enough for her to eat, and she'll leave the second it's done."

"Hmm. So that's why," Nara comes back into the room. Obviously she wanted Inuzuka here as a wolf whisperer. "Aya-chan. Is there anything I can do to make you feel comfortable around me?"

I snort, seeing the trap here. If I won't answer her, Inuzuka will offer his best guess. "I'm here because _she_ asked me."

"Then why are you helping Naruto-kun?"

"Mama asked me to keep an eye on him," I drone. Come on, pup. Wake up so we can get outta here. This isn't somewhere either of us wants to be, right?

"Alright. So why won't you spend some time with the Inuzukas?"

"A dog can become a wolf, but a wolf will never become a dog," I mutter, rubbing behind the pup's ear to gently wake her up. She whimpers, but doesn't stir. She's really out of it. Poor thing. I pick her up by the scruff of her neck, resting my arm under her to support her properly. It's the worst way to transport a wolf pup, but the only way that won't worsen her injury. "I'll bring her by in a week for a check-up. Uzumaki, we're leaving."

"Aya-chan, please. I want to help you. I want to be here for you. But I don't know what to do," Nara begs, tears in her eyes.

I bow to her, to thank her for the food. Turning to the front door without a care, I leave them to their plotting. They aren't the first to try to control me. They won't be the last. Having an emotional reason makes no difference.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Instead of heading to my apartment—it'll be too small for the pup—I lead Uzumaki to my den. I bite my thumb—so much worse than slicing it, seeing as this will leave a more noticeable mark—and smear some blood on the seal, hearing the gate pop open.

"In," I order. He enters before me, looking around to try to make sense of where we are. I close the gate behind me, walking over to the house. While I'm walking, I carefully fish out the keys I keep hidden in my jacket. Once I've dislodged them from their hideaway, I press my right hand against the seal to disarm the security system. I stuff a key into the door and twist—wrong key, I switch to the next one, glad it unlocks the door this time.

Leaving my slippers at the door, I lead Uzumaki into the family sitting room. "I'll make you a deal, Uzumaki. Help me clean this place up. Help me make it liveable again. And I'll give you two blades of your choosing, some senbons to work with, and an open invitation to come over whenever the mood strikes you. Deal?"

"You got it!" he enthuses, making a funny handseal. "Shadow clone jutsu!" When the smoke clears, there are close to fifty Uzumakis crowding the room. I blink.

One of them opens the sliding doors leading into the front yard, and a battle cry goes up. They pour out into the yard, each brandishing a kunai to fend off the invading weeds and plants. Idiot, I swear to kami-sama.

With that mess working itself out—not that I'm even trying to understand what that's about—I head upstairs, into the bathroom. I need to make a little bed for the pup, and I need to start gathering my cleaning things—assuming I don't need to go to the market to buy anything, which I probably do.

I grab a stack of towels. They don't smell frowzy, which is strange given they've been here for so long. Whatever, this is just easier for me.

I take the stack and head back downstairs into the family sitting room. I walk over to a corner, kneeling to upset the pup as little as is possible. I set the towels down, taking the top one and laying it as is on the floor, then carefully lay the pup onto it. The other towels, save one, get rolled up and placed around the pup to make a makeshift ridge around it. The last towel is unfurled, and laid over the pup—leaving her head free—to keep her warm.

Keep in mind, Aya. Wolves can never live in a village. They need to roam free. Don't get emotionally attached, or it'll do nothing but hurt you when she leaves. You're her nurse, her rehabilitator. Nothing more.

Heaving a sigh, I head into the kitchen to track down whatever cleaning materials are left. Under the kitchen sink, I find a collection of bottles… I have a bad feeling, though.

I open one, finding it empty—dried out, to be accurate. Fine. I'll just go out on a limb and assume the same will be true of the laundry detergent and fabric softener. The sponges and clothes are all fine(ish), but frankly I just don't trust them. So they're getting tossed.

Okay. List. Cleaning materials and accessories. Food. Extra meats for the pup. Laundry goodies. Garbage bags—I'm no doubt going to need a lot of them. Anything else? Oil for blades—blacksmith trip, in other words. And I'm going to need to pack my stuff in my apartment—even if only moving in temporarily.

Alright, let's hop to.

I head back outside. "Uzumaki, I'm heading out for a bit. I need to get some things. Keep an eye on the pup for me?"

"Sure thing! Hey, you willing to teach me how to use those swords you promised?"

"Why not. You staying for dinner?"

"You know it!"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It takes two trips to bring my stuff from my apartment—mostly because of the dishes Hyuuga got me and the books—and another trip for the food and materials I need. Naturally I left the furniture. Too heavy to carry alone, and frankly I scalped them when neighbours threw them out.

So now, standing in my clean family sitting room, watching the pup tumble around as she studies her new—and far less threatening—surroundings, I find myself more at ease.

More at ease than I've been in years. Even though I've had to toss out the life-forms from my fridge that might well have evolved intelligence. Even though I still have a mountain of clothes I'm not likely to ever need, that also still needs to be washed. Even though I'm still no better at cooking, or lighting that stupid stove, and therefore still stuck eating as I always have. Even though, in point of fact, nothing changed but my current location. Even though watching old pictures of when I was a pup, of mama and papa, decorating the wall of the family sitting room.

With everything taken into consideration. I'm… I'm more at ease here. This is where I was meant to be.

"Eat," I order, setting a plate of food and a cup of ramen in front of Uzumaki. He worked hard for me today. The front and back jungles have been turned into yards again. The koi pond in the back had the bloated and rotten carcasses fished out, and the pond itself cleaned. He helped clean the house, too. He's… he did well.

I go back into the kitchen, grabbing a plate with raw meats, chopped to make it easier on the pup. I set it on the table as well, picking her up by the scruff of her neck and setting her down in front of it—cleaning the table will be easier than cleaning the tatami mats again, so it makes sense to me.

With them handled, I go and get my own plate. I set it on the low table, plopping down in front of it.

Today's a good day.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Walking along, Uzumaki and the pup trailing along behind me, I find myself oddly at ease. I don't understand it, but the sense of comfort and familiarity don't go away all the same. Our week off has come to an end, team placement is today.

So the three of us make our way to the Academy. Everyone that tries to get close gets glared into an early grave—I travel with an injured pup, after all.

"Stop stalking that poor girl!" someone shouts. Something whirs through the air. I turn, finding a brick flying at him. I kick it off its course before it hits Uzumaki, turning and glaring at the old man that threw it.

I look to the pup, pointing my nose down and making a growling, grumbling noise for her; _stay here, I won't be long_.

Strolling over to the old man, I shove him into his store, away from witnesses. Three well-placed kicks—back of the knee, gut, and forehead—and I leave him to his fate. I'm almost positive I broke something on him. Can't find a fuck worth giving.

I head back out, grumbling to the pup again, and we head out like nothing happened.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Back in our classroom. I take my usual seat beside Yamanaka. Uzumaki seems to like being near me, so he sits behind me—not his usual spot. Still, whatever. The pup plops down between my slippers, her chin resting on my foot. Whatever floats her boat.

The usual crap goings-on are underway. This one feels that, that one feels this. Everyone has something to say, no one wants to shut the hell up. A few insinuations about Uchiha being this, that, or the other.

"Aya-chan?" Yamanaka tries to get my attention. I don't react. "Auntie missed you at breakfast." That's nice. I agreed to be there on days I'm available. I'm not available today. She would know that.

The door flies open. Two Anbu Ops stroll in, already zoned in on Uzumaki. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are to come with us." The rumour mill starts grinding. Everyone already has a theory why Uzumaki is about to be carted away by Ops.

"What's he done?" I demand. The room goes deathly quiet.

"This has nothing to do with you, Namiki."

"I will not ask you again," I drone. Tension in the room is thicker than cream all of a sudden. Perhaps it has something to do with those two idiots trying to scare me with their killing intent? Dunno.

"I said it has nothing to do with you, Namiki."

"Very well. Then I will invoke my right as shadow guard of one Uzumaki Naruto," I drone, uncaring what these fools think is going on. "You will confirm this with Hokage-dono. And you will not return to try this again until this has been done. Failure to do so will have dire consequences."

"I don't think so, Namiki. The Council summoned him."

"Strike one," I mutter under my breath. "Try me again."

The idiot comes over, reaching to grab Uzumaki by force. I kick behind his knee, ramming a chakra enhanced elbow into the side of his face.

"Strike two," I drone, as the idiot drops. Out cold or dead. Either way is fine. "Are you going to test me?"

"You are under arrest for attacking an Anbu Operative!" idiot number two bellows. I know your kind. Anbu Ops given cushy messenger jobs. You aren't combat-oriented, you are lazy fucks that can't handle the real missions.

"I warned you once. I will not do so again."

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Umino-sensei bellows, obviously upset that there are two Anbu Ops.

"Stand down, Chuunin Umino. This is Anbu jurisdiction." No it isn't. This is bullshit intimidation. I stand, grabbing the pup and plopping her down in front of Uzumaki.

I turn to the Op as I unsheathe my twin kodachis. "Strike three. Piss me off and I start a body count."

"Let me handle this, Aya-chan," Umino-sensei begs.

"DON'T YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Idiot number two comes at me with fist? I seallessly cast Hell Viewing jutsu on him, letting him fall forward on his own momentum. He dispels it before he hits the ground—landing on his hands and knees, and not his face like I hoped—but the fact that it even happened is telling.

I pull back my foot, flooding it with chakra to crack his skull wide open.

Umino-sensei body flickers in front of me, his back to me to show whose side he's on. "Genin Namiki is well within her rights to demand an explanation. Anbu Operative or not, I will not tolerate you bullying my student."

An annoyed groan is the only response.

"Now, you will calmly explain why you are here picking trouble during Team Assignments, or I bring this to Hokage-sama's attention. The choice is yours, Anbu-san," Umino-sensei placates. Sort of at least. He's speaking in a calm and soothing voice, but his words carry more weight than his stance.

"The Council summoned Uzumaki Naruto. She is preventing us from fulfilling that summons."

"Shinobi or Civilian Council?" I demand. I know what this is about, I know where this is going. And there's no way the Shinobi Council did much of anything this quickly.

"…"

"You will answer the question, or I will make this so much worse for you," I warn, sheathing my blades.

"Civilian," he tries. I snort, shaking my head. I thought so. The old fool was some connection to the Civilian Counsel, and is no doubt trying to give him hell.

"Good. Then you will heed my earlier warning, and report this to Hokage-dono."

"Aya-chan, this isn't the time. If the council summons you, you should go," Umino-sensei soothes, not turning to me. No, I shouldn't.

"It's alright, Aya-chan." Uzumaki? I turn to him, his eyes are cloudy, out of focus. Oh, it's like that? I grab the pup, bringing her along for what is likely to be a VERY entertaining show.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Arriving in the Council Chambers, I look around. Only two people bear forehead protectors. And I see the old man I fucked up earlier. Yup. This is gonna be entertaining.

"Before you begin," I announce. "I am Namiki Aya. I will ask two questions. One: who sent for Uzumaki Naruto? Two: is Hokage-dono aware of this situation?" I see the stenographer furiously scribbling in the corner.

"We don't answer to you, girl," some arrogant shit informs me. We'll see about that. "Uzumaki Naruto, you have been summoned on the charge of attacking a civilian unprovoked. How do you plead?" The stenographer marks that down as well. With nothing but fun in my future, I find myself smiling.

"Esteemed Council. I shall speak on behalf of Uzumaki. He has attacked no one. I am the one that attacked the supposed plaintiff." There's murmuring through the room, and the old man looks like he finally recognizes me.

"She's right! It **was** her! She attacked me!" The stenographer marks that down. Uzumaki is in the clear. Check. Four moves to checkmate.

"Yes, I did. Now, what happened just before you were attacked?"

He stifles a smile, shaking his head like he's confused. "Sorry, concussion. I can't remember a thing." I doubt that.

"You threw a brick at Uzumaki, unprovoked." There's a wave of discontent spreading through the room. Everyone is looking around, muttering something, hoping someone can make this work. Three moves to checkmate.

"Now. Having said that. If there are charges against a shinobi of Konoha for attacking a civilian, this is Anbu jurisdiction. Might I ask why the Civilian Council is involved in this matter?" Choose your words carefully, this is your only time for a plausible counter. And two moves.

They look around nervously, obviously not having a comeback for that. "I thought so. I motion for this meeting to be adjourned until such a time as the Shinobi Council is present, and the meeting is chaired by Hokage-dono himself." The stenographer scribbles. My smile grows just a little wider as they start sputtering and thinking up all kinds of comebacks.

"Anbu! Remove this girl immediately!" I start to channel chakra into my fingertips. I know that fool will do as he's ordered—breaking laws or no.

Someone grabs me by the wrist.

I dig my fingers into their forearms, ripping into flesh and muscle. A scream fills the room, reverberating off the walls. One move to checkmate.

I knew he wasn't combat-oriented, but fuck! He's dragging Anbu pride into the dirt and shitting on it.

I kick his leg, pulling his arm with all my might. The scent of blood fills the room, drowns my senses. And not two seconds later, the room is filled with Anbu Ops. A sniff reveals these to be the real deal. They were ready—and exactly on time. That, ladies and gentlemen, is checkmate.

"This council holds no power over active shinobi of this village. As such, I demand that the Shinobi Council be summoned, and that this meeting be chaired by Hokage-dono," I drone, my voice carrying through the room. "And I will warn these Operatives now. I have long since invoked my right as Uzumaki Naruto's shadow guard. Hokage-dono has yet to be informed of such, I do not doubt."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I takes an hour to gather the entire council. I've meticulously noted every person that moved around, every pointed glance to the stenographer.

Curiously, there are two Naras present. Nara Shikaku, head of the clan, and representative to the council. And Nara Yoshino, who is a step behind Hokage-dono. This might be more fun that I first imagined.

"This meeting is officially opened," Hokage-dono announces. "Now, Aya-chan. I'll start with your report on the situation."

The Civilian Council starts their bellyaching already. Given I've had the time, I wrote it all down, per the norm. I walk over to him, digging into my pouch. Two Ops get in my way.

"Stand down," Hokage-dono orders. I take out the scroll, showing it to them, but not offering it to them.

"Move," I demand, glaring at them. Grudgingly, they do. I place the scroll on the table, giving him a minute to read everything. Suspicions, predictions, and plausible moves he can make to get to whatever he wants to use this for. So long as Uzumaki and I walk out of here Scott free, I couldn't care less what he uses that information for.

"I see. Very well. Let's start with the minutes from the Civilian Council meeting that started this." The stenographer gets nervous, but she brings her notebook to the Anbu Op, who brings it to Hokage-dono. This isn't the asshole that grabbed me, or his buddy that tried grabbing Uzumaki. There's a chance this will be the actual book she held.

"B," I murmur. Hokage-dono doesn't react.

He carefully goes over the minutes. "Interesting," he murmurs. "Anbu Operatives Mouse and Crow. Report."

"We were standing guard. Genins Uzumaki and Namiki stormed in, injuring us in the process. Operative Crow was rendered unconscious. My forearm was badly injured." I grin.

"Is that so? Why then has Chuunin Umino Iruka reported that the pair of you were found in his classroom? With orders of a summons from the Civilian Council no less, for Genin Uzumaki Naruto. Coincidentally corroborating Genin Namiki's report, might I add." Umino has a country-sized soft spot for Uzumaki. He wouldn't risk this getting out of hand without Hokage-dono immediately being updated.

The silence is deafening.

"Furthermore, Genin Namiki invoked her right as shadow guard. And yet, I was not informed by Anbu Operatives Mouse and/or Crow, via any channel available for such things."

"H-Hokage-sama! Surely, you wouldn't have entrusted such a thing to a civilian?" I don't know who's pushing their luck. And I don't care.

"For those of you who are unaware. This," I thumb my forehead protector, "isn't issued to civilians."

"Quite right," Hokage-dono agrees. His eyes flick to me. Ah. He's green lighting _that_.

"Now. Seeing as the Shinobi Council is present. I wish to re-open the investigation into the matter Genin Uzumaki was summoned for. A civilian store owner, that man right there," I point to the man so there's no hope of misunderstanding, "accused Genin Uzumaki of attacking him. This is entirely false. I attacked him, in retaliation to a brick he threw at Genin Uzumaki, as I stipulated in my report."

I go through the motions, offering a verbal report to the council, detailing only the facts—my suspicions were written out in detail in my report, so that's on Hokage-dono.

"Now, I would hear why such an investigation into the involvement of an active shinobi of Konoha is suddenly the jurisdiction of the Civilian Council," I round off, stepping back over to Uzumaki to show my work is done.

Accusations, counter-accusations, vague insinuations—the whole room is bubbling over with nothing but bullshit. You're getting too old for this shit, Hokage-dono.

"ENOUGH!" My eyes flick to the Inuzuka that just shouted. I plugged my hearing with chakra, so I'm curious what has her up in arms enough to outshout what my technique should drown out. She smells of the only two Inuzukas I know—no doubt their mother.

"Thank you, Tsume-san. Yes, this is quite enough," home-maker Nara agrees. Her eyes are on me for some reason. Curious.

"Aya-chan. I believe you still have something to say?" Hokage-dono is testing me.

"No." I am here because of Uzumaki. I'm not playing fetch because you're too lazy to get the damn ball you dropped.

"Well I sure as hell do! I motion that there be an investigation into the Civilian Council!" Inuzuka belts out. I sigh, shaking my head. That is something YOU should have one, Hokage-dono.

"Seconded," Nara drones, his gaze lazing in my direction.

"Agreed," Yamanaka Inoichi announces, his eyes studying me.

"Very well. Then I will turn this over to Anbu. And I will also require they look into these minutes from that meeting. I believe there has been an attempt to falsify them," Hokage-dono plays kindergarten cop well.

"If there is nothing else?" I drone, glaring at Hokage-dono lazily. I still have to figure out what team I was placed on, you know.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 3_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Before the complaints come in. Those two Anbu Ops, Crow and Mouse, are not run of the mill Ops. They are paper pushers under the thumb of the Civilian Council. No, Aya cannot take on actual Ops as she is.  
_**


	4. Plotting is my vice

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 4 – Plotting is my vice**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Having finally made it back to my seat, I look around, wondering why everyone's eyes are on me. Still, when I feel the pup plop her chin onto my foot, I figure I can just not care.

"Jeez. And I thought Shikamaru was bad," Yamanaka complains. I roll my eyes.

Umino clears his throat. "Now that everyone is here, let me congratulate all—"

Folding my arms on my desk, I lay my chin against my elbow and blot the _you's biiiiiiiig bois and goils, me so proud_ speech.

"Now, for team assignments. Team One." I wait for my name. "Team Five. Seitou Hirota, Honda Datou, and Namiki Aya, led by Ito Shirai."

"Aw, man!" I hear you, Seitou. "Seriously, sensei? The gorgeous psycho?"

My low growl fills the room, crowding out every other noise. Everyone in my field of vision tenses, the hairs on the back of their neck standing on end. The scent of distress fills my lungs. I guess watching me take out two assholes isn't doing them any favours, huh.

"H-hey, Hirota… c-could you n-not u-upset her… p-p-please?" Honda makes sense. You should listen to him, Seitou.

"Aya-chan. Please stop growling," Umino-sensei soothes. I huff, but stand down all the same.

The sentencing… I mean team assignments continue. Uzumaki gets Uchiha and Haruno, making me laugh so hard that Umino stops again, asking me if everything is alright. Instead of answering him, I turn to Uzumaki.

"You have my sympathy," I tease. Two blondies laugh about that. Uzumaki's laughter being more _I can't believe you said that, but that's soo true_! Yamanaka's being more… nervous, like a _crap, you just spoke_.

Only two more teams get announced—given 'Team Nine' is 'still in rotation', so the senseis start pouring in.

"Why do you feel bad for Naruto?" Yamanaka asks. I ignore her. Not ten seconds later, Inuzuka comes over and asks the same question, if differently worded. _Sigh_. I liked it better when you idiots were too scared to talk to me.

"You, Nara, and Uzumaki had the three lowest scores of the class. Should I underestimate you? Should I underestimate Nara?" I lay it out, my gaze on Inuzuka's chest to show I'm talking to him, but not trying to intimidate or challenge him—or plotting to kill him. That gets the lot of them re-evaluating what they think they know about Uzumaki.

"And what about that whole 'shadow guard' thing?" Nara asks. Someone was bound to. I shrug, not willing to answer him. A hand lands on my shoulder. I look up, finding questions in Uzumaku's eyes. _Sigh_.

"Archaic law they never struck from the books. Any shinobi that feels responsible for another person may proclaim themselves shadow guard, allowing for them to speak for that person in legal matters," I lie through my teeth. Fact is, it's a hereditary position. Mama was his shadow guard, assigned by the Fourth—I don't understand why. When she died, it fell to me. The second I got my forehead protector, I was legally required to take up the reins of her mission.

"Team Five! With me!" That idiot over there announces. I stand, checking to see that the pup is coming with me—she's already nipping at my heels.

"Give 'em hell, Uzumaki," I extend my fist for a fist bump. His face is split by a grin.

"Yes, ma'am!" We've got to work on your volume knob. Still, we bump fists, and I go see what that set of fools over there needs from me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I trail along after my new team, keeping the lot of them in front of me where I can keep an eye on them. The pup is keeping up pretty well, but I notice she's starting to lag behind. With one final burst, she runs in front of me, stopping in front of my foot and looking up, begging with her eyes. I nod, picking her up to carry her the rest of the way.

We're led into some out of the way café, where we take a table to the back so we won't be bothered. I take the menu offered to me, already perusing it to see what I feel like having. They have nothing with chocolate—I already hate this place.

Still, make the best of a bad situation. I'll take a riceball and I'll ask if they have unseasoned meat they're willing to sell me for the pup—I'm not eating if she isn't allowed to.

A whiny grumble escapes the pup, as she starts nibbling on my thumb. She feels cooped up again. "Alright. Stay close," I murmur, setting her on the ground between my feet. She immediately starts pouncing on me, using my toes as her targets. It's good practice, so I let her.

The waitress is back, ready to take our order. I try my luck, but find their meats are all already seasoned, to maximise flavour. Screw 'em. I don't order anything, not even tea.

Ito gazes at me. "I understand the pup won't eat, but you still should," he tries. I shrug, not willing to get into it.

When the waitress leaves—after apologizing to me a dozen odd times—Ito decides to get down to it.

"Alright, introductions time. Tell me your names, likes and dislikes, hobbies, and hopes for the future." That sounds like an order, Ito. I don't follow orders. Especially when I don't like or trust the issuer of said order. "You go first."

Seitou says something, or maybe he's bragging about something. Either way, he gets ignored.

"Honda Datou. I like," not interesting, "I dislike," still not interesting, "my hobbies are," I hate being stuck here, "as for the future? I dunno. I'd like to work in Intelligence, but it's hard getting in."

Three pairs of eyes turn to me. They look me right in the eye. Unblinking, unbending. Challenging me without a care in the world.

"Staring is rude," I drone, offering their only warning. Honda and Seitou immediately look away, smelling of fear. Ito doesn't. Okay. Let's see if you like what you get out of this. "Namiki."

"These are your teammates, Aya. Your hunting pack. Do you think it wise to alienate them?" Ito tries.

Wolves hunt with wolves, not mice. Not that I plan on pointing that out—I've wasted enough words on these people.

"There'll be a test tomorrow. A survival exam, of sorts. You three against me," he continues, his eyes never leaving mine. Oh, so he knows what he's doing and is trying to assert himself as my alpha, is he? I smile. A wide, toothy grin. "Training ground five. One o'clock on the dot. Be there."

Plenty of time to plot for you, in other words.

The waitress brings the food. I know what I need to. I pick up the pup, and we head out.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting to the low table, I smile, studying the items sprawled atop it. Ito thinks I am subservient to him, does he? We'll see if we can't rearrange the pecking order somewhat.

I normally only have one leg pouch, I dug out a second one to double my carrying capacity. Normally I can squeeze in twelve kunai, so twenty-four. I'll round that down to twenty, using the extra space for senbons, and I have a little canister I plan on using for sowing needles.

More important are the two hip pouches, the carton with a dozen eggs, the black pepper and cayenne, the cup of dry and loose dirt, the already burnt-to-ash leaves, the collection of little bells—the kind you have on a pet's collar—the spool of ninja wire, and the twelve explosive tags. There's also the empty bowl, the glue—but that's only because I refuse to light candles to obtain hot wax—and the funnel, but those aren't important until those eggs are emptied out.

Alright, Aya. How are we handling this? I don't know the lay of the land, so I'll go to TG-Five for ten and set the traps. I don't have a lot of equipment I'm willing to waste on that man, so we're going minimalist. That means I need to catch him in one go. I'll need to wear him down first.

Okay. Three layers. I'll need four explosive tags on kunai for throwing—it's the most predictable. Four explosive tags on senbon—which offers the best last layer for my trap. And the last four will be stored unattached.

Alright. Amount of senbons? I think I can spare twenty—they are far more expensive than kunai, though, so I'll only take ten. Four for the tags, so six loose.

Alright. The sowing needles are dirt cheap, so I won't care if I use all of them on this idiot. Alright. I have three hundred, but only fifty bells. Alright. So string the bells to the needles with ninja wire, and use the other two-fifty for projectiles.

I'll want a net for the finale, and I'll need that net lined with bells so he can be found—I don't plan on touching him, after all. I may need more ninja wire for that, though. Hmm. I'll just have to see what I can come up with—I only have one spool, so two-hundred metres.

Sigh. This is going to end up being _another_ incident, though. I'd better make notes for Hokage-dono—he always seems to want a report on anything I do.

Hmm. That means I need to scope out the lay of the land. Tonight preferably. No, I say I get it done as soon as I'm finished with this. Set the traps, everything I can get away with leaving overnight. And we'll see what Ito has to say about being my alpha.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting down to dinner, I try to ignore Uzumaki as he goes on and on, griping about Uchiha. Hatake is at least tolerable—his words, not mine—because he is the Fourth's student. And he keeps going on and on about Haruno…?

"Uzumaki. Drop the act. You can't be dumb enough to not know she can't stand you," I drone. He sputters, blushing and looking away from me. I thought so. I may not understand the reason, but I see the act all the same.

"Anyway. You planning on trapping the area for Hatake tomorrow?" I change the subject—it'll do neither of us any favours.

"What, like the prepared eggs you have cooked up?" I raise an eyebrow, wondering why they count as a trap. "Don't give me that! You refuse to touch him, so you're gonna use the pepper and dirt to mess with him. Blind him. And then use the lower vision to lure him into an even bigger trap."

"Alright. Fair point," I admit. "So, will you?"

"I don't see why not. Kakashi-sensei should see that I'm the prank king after all!" Not going there. "You plan on bombing the test."

"…" I work my mouth, trying to deny it. I can't, the words just won't come.

"You're only doing this because you feel like he challenged you. So you're gonna show him not to underestimate you. And then you're gonna bomb the test," he insists, his eyes shining with an impish joy. "After all. You ain't gonna work with nobody that looks down on you."

"Okay. Who're you and what've you done with my blond idiot?" He chuckles, highly amused.

Then the amusement dies. His eyes are lowered to the plate of food in front of him—takeout once again. Then he gazes at the cup of tea, steaming and begging to be sipped.

"You're not like _them_ ," he murmurs. "At first I thought you were acting on the old man's orders. Just like those Anbus that used to watch me. But you don't like taking orders from anyone, so…"

I blink, wondering where he's going with this.

"Then I thought, maybe you're like Ino. That you feel bad for me and'll help me out when you're in the mood. But you aren't ever in the mood to talk to a bunch o' people, so that ain't it neither."

I narrow my eyes. He's been studying me?

"So, fine. Maybe like Iruka-sensei and old man Teuchi. They help me 'cause they care. And anything I ask, they'd at least consider. But that don't fit neither, 'cause you ain't chatty like them. That means you ain't opened up to me yet."

I sigh. He's had nothing but bad luck with people. Of course he studied me, to see what he's dealing with.

"You ain't like any of them. Not even old man Hokage. I mean, I know they care about me, but they ain't never done the stuff you've done. They ain't never given me any weapons or tools or nothin'." I shrug. I'm unique. What else is new? "And on top o' that? You don't make me feel like I'm moochin' off o' you. I gotta work to earn it. And you never once made me feel like some good for nothin'. You know?"

He slips more and more into slang when he's thinking. Interesting.

"So I figure. Why would you trust me, if I don't show you I trust you?"

"Touché," I concede, smirking. "So, you need anything to surprise Hatake?" What's your angle, Uzumaki. Why are you opening up to me? Why are you telling me these things?

"Nope. I'm good. I have a stash in my apartment for pranking." And without another word, he digs in. He eats every morsel, even the veggies he usually complains about. I shake off the mindjob he just gave me.

You might just be the second greatest mystery in my life, blondie. Second only to Hyuuga herself.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I look around. Training Ground Five. There's an open plain here, no doubt where we're supposed to meet. But I have the traps set up a hundred metres into the woodland over to one side. I still can't believe I got it all done on time, but I'm not complaining.

I will be bitching about the fourteen-thousand Ryou I'm spending on showing this fool up. But, par for the course.

Sniffing, I identify two scents coming my way. Honda and Seitou. They keep well away from me and they don't even look my way—good on them.

As I sit here, with the pup climbing all over me and nibbling on my fingers and toes as she damn well pleases, I keep going over the plan in my head. It isn't fool proof. With none of his skills known quantities, there's no way to make this fool proof. But it's what I can do with what I have—it'll have to do.

At the stroke of one, Ito strolls into the clearing. His eyes take in the three of us.

"Alright, rules. I've got two bells. You need one to pass. So one of you is going back to the academy for another year. This is all out. Come at me with intent to kill," count on it, "and don't hold anything back." Let's see if you enjoy that suggestion.

"You have three hours." Idiots one and two tense, preparing for action. "Go."

They dash out of the clearing. I simply walk away, in the direction of the woodland and the traps I set. Hmm. Should I have warned Seitou and Honda not to go anywhere near that area?

Meh. Too late now.

I take out a bar of chocolate, tearing open the wrapper and taking a bite as I saunter towards checkpoint A. If he means to test us, he'll give us a head start to test something or other.

Hmm. Hyuuga said she'd be gone a few weeks. One down, two to go.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It's almost an hour later that Ito strolls into my neck of the woods. I'm sitting against a tree trunk, munching away at another bar of chocolate with not a care in the world. He's too curious about me, about what I'm capable of. There's no way he wouldn't come looking for me.

"This is a test, you know," he complains, annoyed with my lack of participation.

"If you say so," I drone, taking another bite and chewing. Alright, Ito. Moment of truth. You know an Anbu Captain raised me, so there's no way I'm a complete idiot. You know I'm of the Namiki family, so you know of our connection to wolves and the outdoors. So you should be cautious, bordering on nervous, facing me here. Yet you aren't.

There's a patch of deadfall between us. He must think that's my trap. Sorry, that was there when I got here. I tested it, too, there's nothing hidden in there other than bugs.

First trial. Does he walk around the deadfall? Does he trust his skills enough to venture through it? He walks around it. Hmm. Sad. Shinobi Tactic eighteen: it's better to walk into the trap you know about, than tip your hand to the enemy prematurely.

He walks around to the left of it. His eyes are taking in every detail. Smart. Not smart enough, though. I take out a kunai—no tag—and fling it at him. He leans out of the way, his eye still studying everything around him.

A shame he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head. He might see the vine my kunai cut into, if only halfway like I planned. The weight of phase one is too much for the compromised vine, so the tear slowly gets bigger and bigger. Until:

A rain of kunai fly towards Ito, coming from his left flank. He needs to dodge to the right, which he does. That brings him to a tree trunk. I pull another vine, which releases the branch kept bent. It flies down at him. He'll need to use the tree trunk as a springboard and get up onto a higher branch—there are two options: right and left. He goes left. Three moves to checkmate.

I scratch behind my pup's ear for good luck. She yawns, showing just how safe she feels. I take the kunais with explosive tags. The first one is activate on a three second timer, and gets flung at Ito's current location.

He ducks under it, rolling away from the trunk to not block escape paths. He's smart. Two moves to checkmate.

The kunai cuts through a vine, clean this time. A creaking groan tells him something is happening. The tag explodes, the light reveals a fuckton of birds that were resting in the trees nearby. The noise and the concussive blast sends them all into a panic, and the quickest escape route is in Ito's direction.

The air around him is filled with birds, coming at him from all directions. The cover I needed for the prepared eggs—released by the vine that was cut. They drop from a higher branch, slamming into the birds or the branch Ito's on. Both spell disaster for Ito.

The air is filled with dirt and two kinds of pepper. The powder is spread out, so he's forced to close his eyes to protect his vision.

I take the prepared eggs with ash in them. I pelt the first one, getting him in the stomach. Because of the angle, that means the ash flies up at him, right up into his nose and covers his face.

He starts sneezing—whether from the pepper or the ashes, I don't care. The birds finally get free of the area, leaving Ito cut up pretty bad—their claws aren't for show, even if they're just pigeons. His arms and face and scraped up, but only with surface wounds. That's why the pepper is so important—open cuts don't like foreign substances. It might have been smart to substitute at some point, but that's just me.

He knows he needs to wash all that crap out, and that is keeping his subconscious mind busy even while his conscious mind struggles to take in every detail he can. That means he's vulnerable to stealth attacks, even though he's on guard.

Two prepared senbons, laced with a hallucinogen—Hyuuga said I couldn't use the _poisons_ she got me, but these aren't classified as such. I take out the senbons in my left hand—I still don't understand why my aim is better with my left, but I blame the stupid burn on my right forearm.

I fling the senbons at him—chakra-free, seeing as I don't mean to maim or kill him. I aim for his right leg—his dominant leg. One for the thigh, the other for the shin. If either lands, it's one move to checkmate.

Both senbons pierce their targets. He's so fucked. It'll take less than thirty seconds for the active ingredient to reach his brain. He's too busy fishing the senbons out of his leg.

Another kunai, with a tag. I toss it to his left. He's not under the influence yet. He'll recognise it. He'll remember the last time something exploded what that got him. He won't like the high ground anymore. Given where it's coming from, going to his right makes sense. And there would be no signs he can see with his impaired vision. Even if his sense of smell is enhanced, he can't smell anything but pepper and ash.

That means: he jumps to his right, down onto the canopy floor. Checkmate.

The second his feet touch the floor—with his limited jumping range, given his dominant leg is injured—the ground shows him that he's not welcome. The net springs up, tangling him in it as it closes around him and traps him. The bells are going absolutely nuts! Jingling like it's Christmas and that jolly old fat man is here with presents.

Presents like the drug that has now had the time to warp his sense of reality.

It no longer matters how this plays out. He can think the bells are the key to the 'illusion', or he can assume there was another powder lining the pepper of ash, or he can figure out it was the needles. It doesn't matter. The end result remains the same.

Anbu Ops start nosing around the area, here to investigate the explosions—as per protocol. These are genin training grounds, after all. And most genins don't work with explosions.

That means my work here is done. I pick up the pup, and start strolling out of the training ground.

"Genin Namiki Aya! Report!" an Op demands. No white hooded cloak, so not of the hunter division. Just a team on patrol. I fish out the scroll, tossing it to him.

"Hokage-dono will need to see that. Ito's drugged up. He'll think it's a genjutsu, so approach with caution. He'll need medical attention, but it's not life-threatening. Hurry or don't, that's on you." Uzumaki said he'd be at Ichiraku's after his test. I should go check how he did.

And is it just my being accustomed to Anbu Ops, or are jounins in this village slightly pathetic?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Making my way through the crowded streets, I find myself growing more and more agitated. I hate crowds. At least the pup feels safe enough to take a nap—that's worth something.

When I arrive at the stand, I take the only seat left—next to the orange jumpsuit wearing idiot. "Oi! Aya-chan! I totally passed!"

I nod, grateful for that. "Here's our menu. Can I get you some tea while you decide?" the kindly waitress asks. Her eyes are smiling, seeming genuinely happy for some reason.

"Nn," I nod, making a vague motion with my hand to wordlessly tell her it doesn't matter what flavour.

"What flavour would you like?" Didn't I just answer that?

"She doesn't care. Whatever's easiest for you," Uzumaki answers for me. I nod, agreeing with him. With that the waitress goes about her business.

"So, you get even with what's his face?" he asks, not hiding his smile. I grin, not bothering to fight the satisfaction from showing in my eyes. I got him pretty good, all things considered. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with those explosions, though. Would you?"

I shrug, but the grin doesn't dim any. He shakes his head laughing about that. "Anyway. They make the best everything. But the beef is my favourite. I already asked about keeping some unseasoned meat for the pup. And they're out of seafood. So you can order it, but it's wasting words."

"Thanks," I murmur, going over the menu. The beef does sound yummy. But so does the miso. And the chicken. And the…

Fuck it. I did good today. Might as well spoil myself.

The waitress comes back with my tea. "One of everything but the seafood."

"Oh ho! That sounds like a challenge!" Hear what you want, Uzumaki.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Genin Namiki?" I slurp down the last of my ramen, setting the bowl down on the impressive pile in front of me. Uzumaki's still three bowls ahead of me, though. I wipe my mouth in my napkin, turning to the Op. "Hokage-sama requests your presence."

I suppress a burp, rubbing my tummy happily. "Nn," I noise, nodding to show I heard him. "How much will that be?"

"Uh uh, Aya-chan. You won the bet, it's on me," Uzumaki assures me. I don't know why he doubted me. I knew Hokage-dono would call on me sooner or later. He's too amused with my work, and he's too used to Uzumaki and me entertaining him.

Just to be safe, I slip twenty-thousand Ryou into his jacket collar as I grab the pup. He starts doing a wacky dance to get it out, giving me the time I need to leave before he refuses to accept.

With pup in tow, I head towards the Tower. It's barely a stone's throw from Ichiraku's, so it takes less than five minutes before I'm at the secretary.

"Ah, Namiki-san. Hokage-sama's expecting you. Please go on in." I nod, walking up to the door and pushing it open with my free hand.

On entering, I groan. Nara Yoshino, back like a recurring migraine. I shake my head, but close the door behind me anyway. I move over to my usual spot, standing as casually as ever.

"You rang?" I drone, wondering what this is about this time.

"Shirai-kun was admitted to the hospital. Broken leg, broken arm. Drugged. Bruised pretty badly. And in desperate need of a bath." His opening salvo is pretty shitty—and that's ignoring the order he listed those injuries in. Sure I didn't know he bodged the landing, but everything else is predictable.

I offer only a patient smile.

"You injured a jounin badly enough that he'll need rehabilitation." I motion for him to get on with it. "So it's safe to say that you have shown enough skill to feel sending you back to the Academy will only waste your time."

"Sometime today," I drone.

"You're in the Genin reserves, Aya-chan. That means you'll need someone to train you. And it just so—"

"No," I cut in. It isn't hard to see that he's angling to have Nara take me as a student.

"Now, Aya-chan. Consider what I'm offering. If you agree to Yoshino-chan training you, it would mean you have someone that is willing to work with you, not against you. Someone that Hitomi-chan asked to help you. And someone that you've had enough time to study, so you know what she's like."

"If there's nothing else?"

"There is. The fact that you'll need a capable trainer while Hitomi is away. After all, you'll want to impress her when she gets back, right?" I narrow my eyes at him. This isn't his usual tack.

My eyes flick towards Nara. I see nothing to hint that she's involved in this new avenue of manipulation. Hmm. Interesting.

"I'm not interested," I drone.

"Not interested in someone that can teach you to cook? Not interested in someone that can help you with tree- and water-walking so you can start on your medical training? After all, Hitomi-chan will need someone she can trust to patch her back up, Aya-chan. Don't you want to be that person?"

I groan, hating how he's hitting my every button.

"As an added bonus, Yoshino-chan has agreed to help Naruto-kun as well. That means you'll have someone to keep an eye on him if you're out of the village on a mission."

"Why?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so lenient with me?" Get off this damn tack! I don't want you gaining any more momentum!

"Well, my dear Aya-chan. That's very simple. I know that if Naruto-kun is in danger, you're never far away. I know that if there's something you set your mind to, it's getting done without fail. And I know that if you learn to be so much as a half decent medic, there'll be someone I can entrust with Naruto-kun's health. Let alone the fact that being trained by a Nara will sharpen those mental fangs of yours even more."

"Hmm…" He's technically answering my question, if barely and vaguely at that. More than that, he's nudging this right back onto a route that shows he's willing to call on every dirty trick in the book to get me to relent.

"And that's again not taking into account that Hitomi-chan asked you to spend time with Yoshino-chan. This would be two birds with one stone, wouldn't it? You won't even need to go out of your way."

I shrug. There's that, yes. "Whatever," I wave it off, utterly uncaring of—

"Aya-chan?" I turn to Nara, wondering what she needs. "I set this up. I planned every move, I scripted every line, and I laid every trap. I want you as my student. But you have to want this with eyes wide open."

My eyes widen, shocked to hear her be so open about it. More than that, though. That shows a level of understanding how my mind works than anyone should be capable of.

Manipulative. Cunning. A decent enough tactician. Willing to work with me. Lays her cards on the table when the time is right. Isn't against admitting when she's wrong or doesn't know somethning. And being around her will put Hyuuga's mind at ease.

I grin. I've been dealt worse hands. "I guess I've got a lot to learn. Right, Nara-sensei?" She smiles, her eyes twinkling. "Who's the rest of the team?"

"No one. Just us," she assures me. "Because you are in the reserves, we won't need to follow typical team protocol."

"Works for me. We start tomorrow?"

"Yes. Breakfast, at my home. We'll discuss things after." I wave lazily, seeing myself out.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Uzumaki," I greet him at the gate, opening it and inviting him in. His eyes are weary of me. He's unsure what to make of me. I can't say I blame him. He's had a few hours to mull over the information he's been given, and he no doubt thinks there's more going on than I've told him.

After properly closing the gate, I lead him into the family sitting room—per the norm.

"You get three questions. And I don't promise to answer any of them."

"What's a shadow guard?" He's learning. Good.

"A hereditary position. Mama was your shadow guard before she died. The second I got my forehead protector, I was honour bound to continue with her mission," I explain, keeping a few key aspects from him. It's too bothersome to give him all the details.

"So what, you work for me?" I flick his nose at the stupid wording, ignoring the predictable grumbling and complaints.

"It means my job is to protect you. I've been training you so that you can learn to protect yourself. I get B-Rank pay on a monthly basis, so that means I make more money than you can afford to pay me. And no, I don't answer to you either. Only the person that offered the position can order me around." Predictable question in three, two, one:

"Who offered your mom the position?"

"Magical monkeys. That's three."

"You—"

"I said three. Hungry?" He shakes his head, no. The questions in his eyes are only growing brighter. Good. Start to think, Uzumaki. Start questioning what you think you know about the world around you. And who knows. Maybe one day I'll let you see the alcove of scrolls your parents left in mama's care.

"Alright. Then it's time for training. Tonight you are focusing on theory. To be specific, chakra theory. I don't trust how those fools trained you," I mutter the last part, knowing that only Umino-sensei would have given him the time of day.

I slide the book—Introduction to chakra—in front of him. "You will read it cover to cover. I'm here if you have questions regarding the subject matter discussed in the book." Best not to leave the loophole of him asking me more questions about that shadow guard thing. It's rather pointless, and it doesn't improve his life any.

Does he look nervous?

"When did they stop teaching you to read?" It's the only thing that makes sense. I know he doesn't know the theory—two seconds worth of conversation clears that right up. So there's no other reason to be nervous.

He mumbles something incoherent. It doesn't matter. "Read out loud. We'll work through it together."

"B-but…"

"After you work through this book. I'm giving you scrolls on a style for your twin wakizashis. Do you really want to pass that up because it's embarrassing?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I sigh, lying in bed after yet another long ass day. Uzumaki stayed until just after sunset, but I still had my own training to see to, and I needed to practice that False Surroundings jutsu. _Sigh_. Now I just want to be.

So I open the book, and I continue where I left off last time.

 _Kiyoko's fingers ghost over her lover's thigh. Her touch is light, playful, ever letting Hatsue know that she knows just how to tease her—a fact they both enjoy._

 _Higher and higher, Kiyoko's hand trails up, reaching them hem of a light blue, pleated skirt. Idly, she runs a single digit along the border between seen and unseen, before her fingertip disappears into the unknown._

I can't help but wonder at this book. Why was it not in the erotica section? It's clearly depicting some rather intense and mind-blowing scenes. Maybe it's because two women together isn't considered sex? After all, legally speaking in the Land of Fire, sex is the act of penetration.

More than that. Why does this scene affect me more than those ero-novels I've read?

I've read dozens of scenes just like this, where a guy has his hand up a woman's skirt. No matter if he's fumbling around in the dark. No matter if he's a Casa Nova and plays her body like an artist. It just doesn't affect me like this does.

And this affects me.

My heart is throbbing in my chest, racing faster and faster until it almost feels like it's going to burst. As I rub my foot against my shin, I feel… different, softer. My breaths come in shorter and shorter bursts, only to be followed by a gasp for seemingly no reason—that Kiyoko touches Hatsue in ever increasingly intimate ways shouldn't be reason enough.

More prominent is the feeling of the hem of my nightie grazing my thighs, teasing my skin, drawing my attention more and more to the areas that Kiyoko so thoroughly investigates.

Not to forget the scent. The increasingly dominant scent that I've never smelled from myself before—though I certainly have from other women and girls. A scent that usually is accompanied by them blushing profusely, usually accompanied by either stuttering or overt flirting.

Though I know intellectually what's going on, it's painting a picture I'm not sure I'm ready to face.

So instead, I focus on how Hatsue has had enough teasing, how she pushes Kiyoko onto the bed, how she leaves lipstick imprints everywhere her lips land. How Hatsue shivers from pleasure each time a sensitive spot is…

I love this book.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Trudging along a familiar path, Uzumaki leads the way to our destination. Today is the day we're supposedly officially genins. The day he will truly belong to a team. Unlike me. I'm the only genin I know not on a team.

Meh. I know I had a fuck around here somewhere. When I find it, I'll give it.

"What time you meeting up with your team?" I ask, mostly being conversational.

"Eh. We're supposed to meet up for eight. But Kaka-sensei will probably show up late again." Ergo, not missing the team dynamics one bit.

I study how Uzumaki walks for a moment. There's a greater sense of pride, sense of purpose in his every step. Is it the twin wakizashis he wears in an 'X' on his back? Is it that he knows I have his back? Is it that he feels like he has something more than the scraps Konoha dropped off their table? I don't know.

He barely seems to care that I gave him two hip pouches and a second leg pouch to carry more stuff. But I know he enjoys carrying more kunai and shuriken—not that I understand the shuriken bit, I've never found them particularly useful. And yet, he's turning to me with greater ease with each passing day. The more I come to know you, Uzumaki, the less I understand you.

Well, it's fine as long as he's happy.

He bangs on the door, happily announcing that he's every bit the attention whore. "Yoshino-san! Let's get the party started already!"

I shake my head, rubbing my brow with my hand. You're incorrigible, Uzumaki. And not always in a good way.

"Sorry for taking so long." the door swings open, revealing Nara-sensei in a jounin uniform with a flak jacket, leg pouch, and a blade's grip sticking out from her right hip. That's more like it!

"Jeez, Yoshino-san! I barely recognize you! You hunting down rogue shinobi today, or what?" Uzumaki teases, earning himself an amused smile and a playful eye roll from sensei.

"You never know. Come on in, you two," she invites, her eyes smiling especially bright this morning. She's going to ask me to help with breakfast in three, two—

"Would you mind giving me a hand preparing breakfast?" Nara-sensei asks. I'm _so_ shocked. I don't know _what_ I'll do with this _unexpected_ request.

"Nn," I noise, nodding.

"Thank you," she gushes, her eyes sparkling like the night sky. Wow. Just wow. "Naruto-kun, would you mind waking up Shikamaru? His room's upstairs, first door on the right."

"Sure think, Yoshino-san!" And blondie's off, happy as punch. Before heading into the kitchen, I put the sleeping pup in a corner where she'll be the lease distressed. Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to do, other than see what crap Nara-sensei is going to start teaching me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Dish after dish is lain on the table. A table sensei painstakingly taught me how to set properly. I've spent the last hour learning how to wash rice, chop and season meats, prepare fish for baking, wash and peel and cut vegetables, make a green salad, steep tea (that was so challenging, really), and I even learned how to make eggrolls. She's leaving nothing up to chance, it seems—a stance I respect.

With the last of breakfast set, we all sit to the table. Nara-san sitting with Uzumaki. Sensei sitting with her husband. And me sitting with my pup beside me. Everyone starts digging in, scooping up this or that—other than the rice, seeing as everyone got their own bowl of that.

I make sure my pup gets a few chunks of unseasoned meat, which I put on a plate just for her.

The thing that sticks out to me, is how everyone choruses 'itatakimasu', and how they dig in with gusto. Tasting the subtle flavours sensei assured me would be a hit. The subtle ease of tension as the taste something delicious.

What's that like? It's been so long, I can't even remember.

I carefully shovel in my meal, feeling the grains of rice, the crunch of lettuce, the springiness of the tofu, and the fish's dryness. I taste none of it.

Well. At any rate, I'll probably help wash the dishes after this. And then we'll see what sensei's deal is when it comes to training.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 4_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: If I have to put up a lime warning, then I'm seriously going to start questioning people's intelligence. And I do hope I don't have to explain why such details were left out of Butterflies in the first place. After all, it's entirely possible for one person to fall in love with another. Sexuality (as it is understood in the Western World) generally only offers a guideline which gender is more likely to be selected for such.  
_**

 ** _At any rate, the last scene, where Aya can't taste the food. This is almost a dead giveaway for depression. The longer you're depressed, the harder it becomes to remember the person you were before depression set in, and accordingly the harder it becomes to remember what certain foods taste like-until at long last, you cannot remember the taste of food at all._**

 ** _So, if you are still wondering what the difference is between this and Butterflies: this takes the Wolf contract into account from the start, this takes Aya's depression into account from the start, and this takes the realness and reality of her situation and brings it to life. And this offers a true insight into why certain things happen._**

 ** _R &R darlings_**


	5. Wounded Animal

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 5 – Wounded Animal**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Have a seat, Aya," sensei orders. She walks around the lacquered desk, ignoring the towering bookshelves. Sitting down herself, I see the three large windows behind her, meant for natural lighting. There's only one chair opposite her, so I plop down onto that.

"Please understand that although I have done all I can to study and profile you, you aren't the easiest person to get to know." I snort, amused with her observation. "As such, I will be asking you very pointed questions. I ask that you answer me honestly." I shrug. That depends entirely on the question.

"We'll start with what you expect of me. How many missions a day do you need to survive financially?" A fair starting point. And definitely a stance that earns some respect.

"None. I bombed into the Genin Reserves because I don't need that." Her eyes widen slightly. "You know of my mission to guard Uzumaki?" She shakes her head, no. I shrug—now you know.

"May I know more?"

"No."

"Alright. Fair enough, for now. So money isn't an issue. That means we can focus on training." I smile, nodding. She's adaptable, I'll give her that.

"I don't trust your file, so I'll test you in every aspect to see where you are." I nod, agreeing that my file would be nothing but bullshit. "Do you have any elemental training?"

"No."

"Alright. We'll see to that when you get that far. How far have you gotten with the tree-walking ex…" I blush, looking away. "Hitomi didn't show you." I shake my head, no.

"I'll ignore that this time. Do not lie to me in the future." That all depends on the situation, sensei. "Alright. I've seen you sporting those blades. And I've noticed Naruto-kun wearing wakizashis. I assume that's your doing."

"Nn."

"I'll see later just how skilled you are with them. Hitomi mentioned your interest in genjutsu. How many have you learned outside of the Academy three?"

"Four. Two of which I can do seallessly."

"Impressive. You're a perfectionist like your parents." I nod, agreeing fully. "Good. So medical jutsu. Genjutsu. Taijutsu. Kenjutsu. Anything else of note?"

"Not as yet."

"Why did Hitomi buy you that flute?"

"Reasons."

"Fair enough. Alright, I know enough of what you need from me. So let me explain what I expect in addition to this." I raise an eyebrow. "We'll be training two days on, one day off. I expect you to be here for six o'clock every morning regardless. When Hitomi gets back, I'm willing to negotiate another arrangement."

"That's fair," I murmur, half shrugging.

"On training days, I expect you here dressed as such. Naturally." I shake my head rolling my eyes up into my head dramatically. "On your off days, you will show up in a cute outfit and wearing make-up."

"Huh?"

"As a kunoichi, you are expected to fight for Konoha. However, you've neglected that you are also very much a twelve year old girl. **After** you've gotten used to it, you may decide for yourself if you hate it, but you _will_ try it all the same."

"Fine, fine," I cave, waving her off nonchalantly.

"I'll be taking you shopping today to get anything you currently lack. I'll also give you two scrolls I expect you to keep on you at all times. In one you will be sealing things meant for _the girl_. In the other, things meant for _the kunoichi_. That way, you can be armed even while looking adorable."

"I don't do adorable," I grouse.

"So you mean to tell me there isn't someone that's caught your eye? Someone you want to notice you?" I blush and look away, refusing to comment on that. "Exactly. There's nothing wrong with being comfortable with your looks. And there isn't anything wrong with wearing or not wearing make-up to enhance that. But I want you to learn both ways so you can make up your own mind, and not get stuck in the pattern you've always been in."

I sigh, unwilling to argue one way or the other. If nothing else, it will be interesting to learn. I guess.

"Alright. That aside. As you no doubt have noticed, I will be teaching you to cook. I'll also ask you to give me a hand around here with other chores until I'm certain you can handle that well enough on your own. This will include cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, budgeting and bookkeeping, and home planning." I shrug, knowing I can hold my own on most of those things already.

"I'll also be teaching you micro- and macroeconomics, so you'll be able to invest wisely when the time comes. Then there's tactics, psychology, and sociology. I don't doubt a lot of this was covered in the Academy, but I don't do half-assed. Either give me your all, or go home and don't come back."

"As it should be," I murmur, nodding.

"Good. We'll consider this an off day. So there will be no major trainings. However, before we go out, I want to teach you how to seal and unseal items in your new scrolls." She places two scrolls on the table for me, nudging them in my direction.

"We'll go over the details at a later date and time. Just remember two things for now. First, each scroll is marked, this is for the ease of identifying them. And second is that each seal in both scrolls contains a bag. These bags mark the maximum volume capacity the seal can contain. Don't pack the bags until they burst at the seams, and you shouldn't have a problem. Questions so far?"

"Yeah. Why bags? I mean, your word choice implies there's more to it than mere visual aid."

"Hmm. That's true. It's meant to be used as storage, so you can carry things easily. Things like the books you were dragging to the other side of Konoha the other day." I blush, my eyes widening with surprise. "I know where you're staying and why. I'm just trying to make it easier on you, so maybe you'll trust me enough to come to me next time you do something like that."

I look away from her, unsure if that level of trust is even possible.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Aww, come on, auntie! You're taking her shopping and sending me to train?! How is that fair?!" Are blonds naturally loud?

"It's fair, because if I take you along you'll be pestering Aya until she explodes on you." A very good point. And enough of a point to not be a brat about going anymore—Nara-sensei obviously has thought about this, after all. So with no reason not to, I noise to the pup for her to come along.

We almost to the front door, I reach for the handle—

"But, auntie! If you don't expose her to people her own age, she'll never be properly socialized and that could stump her social and interpersonal growth, leaving her feeling isolated from everyone other than you and a select few! Is that what you plan on doing to her?!" Why is she being so stubborn about this? What drives her to the point of desperation? Why is being close to me such a point for her?

"Ino. I plan on helping her to feel comfortable with you—in time. For now, you are being too pushy and that is only going to make her even more cautious with you."

"And what happens if she—"

"Ino. Drop it. Now," Nara-sensei orders. I turn to the pair of them. I see the yearning in Yamanaka's eyes, the tears welling up that she refuses to let fall. She's… emotional? I don't understand, what about me seems so important to her? Why is she trying so hard to make nice?

"I can't!" A tear spills down her cheek, even as her fists are balled, even as she fights the subtle shaking as a result of the intensity of emotion bottled up within her.

She isn't this good an actress.

"You think I don't know what's going on? You think I'm blind to all the signs, to all the red flags?"

"No. I think you're too emotionally invested. And because of that you will push too hard. You will get her defensive. And that will lead to one or both of you being confrontational."

"A-Aya-chan, please…" she ignores sensei, her eyes on my tummy. "I… I've been there. You think because my parents are alive I can't understand, but I've been there. I know. I know you can't taste food. I know you eat only because you have to, that your only real goal is to make it through today."

"That's nice," I drone, unconcerned with her tack change. I turn back to the door, reaching for the handle once again. "Sensei, we ha—"

"Hitomi-san," she cuts in, taking a step towards me. "She's the one that grabbed you by the hair and pulled your head above water. Even though she's abrasive, even though she makes the wrong moves, you understand that she sees you drowning on dry land. That she recognizes you're alone even in a crowd. That's why you let her in."

I look at her over my shoulder. She's rubbing her left forearm, just below the wrist. She wears hanging sleeves, covering the spot she's touching. Is something hidden there? Is that why she doesn't show her forearms? I always wear long sleeves, because I don't want to show my burn. Does she have an injury she doesn't want the world to see, just like me?

"I get it, Aya. I understand." And I'm a dainty ballerina. "Please… I…"

"If there's nothing else?" I drone, twisting the knob and sliding the door open.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Our first stop is a pharmacy—just not one that only sells prescription drugs. This one has a 'store section' where they shelf beauty products. Nara-sensei, dressed as a proper chuunin and ready to fight off a few dozen enemy shinobi, takes me into the girliest of girly sections, bringing a basket with her to store whatever she feels I need to get.

I huff, roll my eyes, and resign myself to my fate. "Your mother hated makeup, too. So I know more or less what to avoid like the plague," she _assures_ me. "So you won't need foundation, it affects your sense of smell. Just lipstick," she grabs three different colours, putting them in the basket, "eyeliner and eye shadow," a pencil and a small box with what looks like eight different colours join the lipsticks, "powder," another little box joins the collection.

She picks up a bunch of other stuff, too. Brushes, more lip-stuff that she claims goes with lipstick. Lip balm to keep my lips from chapping. I don't care to remember half the names she calls out. Even as she drags me into a new section, I find myself zoning out.

"I know perfume will make you sneeze yourself into the grave. So we'll try a body spray instead. This is the one your mom used to use on dates with your dad," she explains, grabbing a see-through bottle with a purple liquid inside. She pops off the cap, spritzing a little onto her arm. She offers her arm for me to smell.

Hmm. Couldn't hurt. I lean in, sniffing. Mountain flowers… the scent is light enough to not overpower my senses, but noticeable enough to enhance my natural scent.

And it…

"Yeah… mama'd love this scent," I murmur. She even used a 'mountain rain' scented fabric softener on her civilian clothes. And mine as well.

With little more than a nod, sensei replaces the cap, laying the bottle into the basket as we head to the counter to pay.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Alright, Aya-chan. This is where things start getting a little dicey." Sensei, those words aren't doing my nerves any good. I look around, seeing a sea of heads going from one aisle to the next. All female. All excited as all hell. And all of them gushing to other females about something or other in high-pitched voices than make me cringe every time they open their mouths.

Nara-sensei brought me to a clothing store on a Saturday, when the majority of civilians are free… with a half-off sale.

"Trust me, Aya-chan. I have a plan. We just need to get you a changing booth, and I bring the clothes to you." Yeah, with or without me killing half the airheads in here?

A scared whiny-whimper escapes the pup—this is too much for her, too. I don't blame her. This is going to be a nightmare.

Nara-sensei leads me deeper and deeper into the pits of hell. The screaming reverberates so much better here—or worse, in my opinion. So many of them are bickering over this 'cute' thing, or that 'shiny' thing. A few of them are glaring daggers at each other, to the point of coming to blows—I'm not against it. In fact, I'm willing to arm the pair of them so they'll kill each other, and hopefully take down a few others in the process.

Eventually we get to a line of little… cubicles? Nara-sensei glares at a woman, walking right past her and her group, right up to the little curtain meant for privacy. We wait (im)patiently for the occupant to come out, which only takes an eternity or two, and sensei motions me in.

"Stay here. Don't kill anyone." With those words of wisdom, she closes the curtain and the pup and I plop onto the ground, huddling together to keep each other sane.

On the other side of the curtain, a barrier so thin it's laughable, I hear warcries and death threats. I hear the looming threat of violence, announced by teenagers with limited funds and a need to have everything they can get their hands on.

The curtain flies open, Nara-sensei stands there with a pile of clothes that she hangs on a hook. "Try these on. Anything that fits, you're getting." And she's gone once again. I look at the clothes, wondering what possessed her to believe this is a good idea. I'd rather deal with Yamanaka all day every day that face another minute of this.

I look to the clothes. I look to the curtain keeping the masses of ranting and raving shopaholics away from me. Nara-sensei is nuts, going out into that. And even more so for dragging me in here!

Still. It's safe in here. And if anyone tries anything, I have my blades ready. I'll be fine. I just have to try these things on, see if they fit. If they don't, oh well.

Okay. You can do this. You can—

The curtain flies open. A group of teenagers, five in all, each of which are glaring at me.

"Oi! This is our—"

I unsheathe my twin kodachis. That shuts them up pretty quickly. "Leave," I offer their only warning. They dash off, not even closing the curtain. Sheathing my blades, and closing the curtains, I shift my focus onto the first outfit. A kimono, but only the top half, which makes it look almost like a dress.

It looks decent enough, I suppose.

I start disarming, hanging my blades onto an empty hook, then comes my jacket, covering my blades. The curtain flies open once again. I turn, glaring holes into the redhead I find staring at me. "Look. I don't care who you think you are. I need to change!"

I look at her. The Konoha forehead protector covering her brow, the angry, violet eyes, the scowl, the chuunin vest.

"Then go bother someone else," I sneer, balling my fists. This is the second time in less than a fucking minute some dumbshit tried this with me.

"Don't you take that tone with me! Do you know who I am?!" I cock back my fist and punch her in the face. Taller than me or not, higher in rank or not. NO ONE speaks to me like that.

She flies back, into the crowd of assholes trying to get a cubicle of their own, bowling them over. A gaggle of shrieks, cries of indignation, and a whole lot of insanity erupts from where little miss bossy just flew into. I step out into the big bad world, glaring at everyone at the same time, enjoying how everything around me is so silent I can hear a pin drop.

"The next one that tries it is getting hospitalised!" I sneer, turning on a dime and storming back into cubicle and closing the curtain a second time.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Dark grey kimono, with a skirt that reaches my knees, and matching shinobi sandals. I study how I look in the mirror, study how my oval, red glasses contrast horribly with it. I study how my long, black hair makes this a good choice regardless.

Deciding I like this one, too, I disrobe. I reach for the hanger, carefully hanging the outfit and putting it with the 'approved' pile. I reach for the next outfit, but feel only wall. That means I've gone through the whole stack. Barely a third of which is coming home with me.

Liking my choices, I open the curtain. The din from the crowd stills instantly. "Ready to go, Aya-chan?" Nara-sensei asks, her eyes smiling a little too brightly for my liking. She's busy talking to that shopping tyrant.

"Nn," I nod, bringing my picks with me. Without missing a beat, a group pours into the cubicle, not even caring I left a pile of clothes in there. Fucking lemmings.

I look down, finding the pup right behind me. With nothing else that needs my attention, I head to the cashier, glad to see the crowd parting and muttering something along the lines of not getting in _that one's_ way.

Nara-sensei demands she pay for everything, for whatever reason she might have. Figuring I have the time, while the cashier's packing everything into bags, I take out my scroll and unseal one of the bags. Once Nara-sensei pays, I pack our haul into the duffel bag and seal it away. Having dealt with that, I re-roll the scroll and stow it.

When we get outside I turn to sensei, asking with my eyes if that's everything we needed to deal with.

"No, Aya-chan. We still have to go to the blacksmith. And I noticed a burn on your right forearm. Does that affect you at all?"

"Nn." I nod.

"Fine motor skill?" I nod again. "Then we're going to take you to the hospital so a doctor can see what we can do." I huff, but don't fight her. She'd just tell Hyuuga and get her to pester me instead.

"And while we're at it, we'll go to the ophthalmologist. I don't know the last time you had your eyes checked, but given you've done nothing about a burn I won't take any chance."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Today was a nightmare. A total. Fucking. Nightmare.

Closing the gate behind me, I roll my eyes up to the heavens and let out a worn out sigh. The dull reds and pinks and oranges of a sky aflame announce just how long my day's been. A whine pulls my attention back to earth, and to an annoyed pup that wants something to eat.

"Alright, alright. Slave driver," I grouse, walking to the house and letting us in.

After I deal with dinner, I bring the pup into the front yard to let her run around and burn off her energy. She keeps pouncing on the chewtoy I got her. She keeps shaking the stuffing out of it and tossing it away, only to pounce on it again. She's enjoying herself.

While she's busy with that, I get back to _In her arms_ —I really love this book. Hatsue's taking Kiyoko out to dinner, to introduce her brother—the only family she has left. I find myself wondering at the younger male's casual acceptance of it all, and the man be brought with him to the family affair.

The bell rings. I sniff, smelling Uzumaki. He's late. But… why do I smell…?

I rush to the gate, dropping the book wherever. On the other side, is Uzumaki, as predicted. And he's covered in bruises, his left arm still bleeding. I take another, deeper sniff. Hmm. The fools.

"What happened, Uzumaki?" I touch the seal over to the left. Mama was proudly paranoid of defending her den. So she has two seals that will come in handy just now. One to trap the idiot, though I don't activate it yet. Another to send a distress signal to Anbu HQ. I don't doubt it still works, even after all these years.

"Come on, Aya-chan. It's been a rough day. Just let me in," 'Uzumaki' tries. Alright. Don't say I didn't let you walk away when you had the chance.

I offer the seal the needed chakra. With a shout of surprise, the idiot gets wrapped in black ribbons that leach all his chakra, ending the transformation jutsu. I don't recognise the person, but that's a Konoha headband and flak jacket.

I offer chakra to the other seal, announcing to Anbu that shit has hit the fan. Unfortunately, the first seal takes some chakra, but mostly focus to maintain the trap jutsu. It takes them no more than ten minutes to arrive—given they've had no reason to expect that seal would be used ever again, I'd say that's pretty good. Still, I'm wiped out because of it.

"Namiki, report!" an unfamiliar Op barks out. White flak jacket, painted mask. She's important. I sniff. This one smells of the same Inuzuka from the council meeting.

"Perpetrator came transformed as Genin Uzumaki Naruto, pretending to be injured. He attempted to gain entry by tricking me. And that blood I smell on him is definitely Uzumaki's," I give it in one go. She sniffs.

"Agreed. I want two teams looking for Uzumaki. Now!" With that they all disappear, including the idiot.

This doesn't sit right with me. Uzumaki's blood was used. That means he's injured. He's late, and he's never late. That means he caught on, that means he fought. That means he's hidden away somewhere and might need medical attention.

Think. What's the most likely sequence of events?

He showed up at the training ground for eight. Hatake would have been a few hours late. As an ex-Anbu Captain, he wouldn't think three wet behind the ears genins would be able to handle what he considers training. That means he'd do something light, maybe take a mission. D-rank, without fail. That means they would call it a day somewhere between three and five.

Uzumaki shows up around six. That means anywhere between one and three hours to kill time. So he'd go to Ichirakus for some ramen. He'd have left there around five-forty-five, and he'd take the most direct path here.

That's when the idiot would have struck. But given Uzumaki's been training hard lately, that means his newfound skills would have not been taken into consideration. That's why the perpetrator got here late. That means, somewhere between Ichiraku's and here, he was ambushed. And is likely gagged and tied to keep him out of the way—if not killed, that is.

Okay. I need to find him.

I rush to the house, grabbing my jacket and keys. I close the doors and activate the security system, before heading out into the night.

The shit I do for you, Uzumaki.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!**

"Open up, Inuzuka!" I bellow, a sense of urgency in my voice. The door swings open, with the wrong Inuzuka. He takes one look at me.

"HANA!" He bellows, already helping me get Uzumaki into the house. We drag him in, laying him on the couch just in time for the Inuzuka I came here for to shove me out of the way.

I get well out of the way. I don't need to be in the way. I don't want to be in the way. I don't want to be here.

It's…

It's always the same. I take my eyes off someone for five minutes…

"Aya," Inuzuka calls to me, his tone soothing. My nose points to him, but my eyes won't focus. It's always this. Always the same shit. This is why I can't get close to anyone, why no one can get close to me.

Everyone around me dies. They always die on me.

"Aya, breathe. It's alright. He'll be alright."

How can it be alright? Nothing's alright. Nothing's **ever** alright.

I gaze at my hands feeling Uzumaki's blood, smelling his blood, seeing the—

I dash for the door, just barely making it outside before everything comes up.

Over and over. The bile, the dinner I didn't get to enjoy, everything comes up.

Then comes the dry retching, my stomach twisted in knots and my insides aching worse than the day they told me about mama.

Not that the tears are any easier to bear.

"So that's why you avoid people." Inuzuka, you ignorant piece of shit! Do you REALLY think I'm in the mood for you?!

"Fuck off," I growl out, before dry retching again.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting in the corner of the Inuzuka living room, I stare dead ahead. Even with the pup snoozing in my lap. Even with three Inuzukas over to one side discussing something. I don't care.

Uzumaki breathes. He's breathing, he's in my sight, and I'm not taking my eyes off him—that's all I care about.

My eyes linger up and down his battered and broken body. He's covered with so much gauze he could audition for a mummy movie.

He got targeted because of me. Everyone knows that mama was the Fourth's most trusted shinobi, so everyone suspects the missing jutsu archive is hidden in our home—and they're right. After all, with 'no heir' it only makes sense that the council would break into his home.

But not only the council. Every two-bit piece of shit shinobi of this and every other hidden village would give anything to get their hands on the Yellow Flash's hidden archive—whether noble or deplorable motives are behind that is irrelevant. And with 'only a wet behind the ears genin' to guard it, they all think now's the time to strike.

That's why mama was ruthless in training me. She knew that if anything happened to her, it would fall to me to guard the Fourth's treasures—his child and his family's hidden archive.

It's also no doubt the reason Uzumaki is fucked up right now. They don't realise who his father is. They only know that I can grant them access to that archive.

It's all they care about.

It's all anyone ever cared about. Not mama, who was the guardian until she died. Not me, the current guardian until I die. They only care for the archive. They only want that which I guard. I'm only a sentinel, an obstacle.

A faceless shadow, one that no one cares for, that no one will miss.

It's alright, though. I just have to guard Uzumaki until he's strong enough to defend himself. And I have to rehabilitate this pup, too.

After that?

After that I can offer this piece of shit world the corpse I've been holding onto.

It'll need to be in the village though, or they'd never fucking bury me between mama's and papa's graves. I no longer care if it's in the line of duty, though. Mama and papa died in the line of duty, and they didn't even get their names on the Memorial Stone. I didn't even get their bodies to bury.

Nothing.

They gave everything for this fucking shitstain village.

And they got nothing to show for it.

So, just bide your time, Aya. Just bide your time. Remember your goals: save allies, kill enemies. That's all you need to focus on.

That's all you need to do.

So tomorrow, you're gonna start tree-walking. That's step one. Then water-walking. Then the exercise in that scroll. Then you start bugging whoever you can for medical training.

If you can do that, Aya. Then you can die honouring both your parents. You can hold your head high. Then you can be—

"Are you alright?" I don't even look at Nara-sensei.

"Nn."

She takes a step towards me.

I growl, my face contorting into something else entirely. My eyes bore into her, daring her to try anything stupid.

"Aya-chan. Calm down. I need to check if you're alright," she soothes, holding up her empty palms and moving extra slow. "You're covered in blood, Aya. That worries me. Will you—"

"Go away," I sneer, unimpressed that she's still coming closer.

"Aya. I think you're wounded. And the only way for—"

I unsheathe my kodachis, growling deeper, more guttural than before.

"It's alright," she soothes, finally halting her approach.

"Yoshino, cut that shit out," Inuzuka barks out. Deep, thrumming voice, but female all the same. The head of the house, no doubt. "Namiki, report! Injury status!"

"Fuck off!" I bark right back.

"She's injured. She's holding her kodachis too stiff. I'll bet it's her fingertips,"

"I know that, you idiot," Nara-sensei grinds out. "She needs someone to look at that. She already has problems with her right hand. This isn't going to do her any favours."

They get a look in their eyes. They're gonna try to overpower me. Oh, you wanna play?

I shake my leg, letting the pup slide down onto the floor. With that handled, I start moving away from them, towards the door. I ain't fighting no-fucking-body in someone else's den—they'd have traps galore set up for me.

I make it to the door, kicking it open—to hell with whatever just fucking broke on it—and out into the front of the house.

The three of them follow. Two Inuzukas, and one Nara. I keep backing up, sniffing so I know no—

I can't move. I sniff again. Another Nara. Sensei's husband, no doubt. How'd he…

They're coming closer. The medic's hand's glow green—that I can deal with. It's that they keep coming fucking closer that has every nerve-ending in my skull to the point of exploding.

My arms move on their own. I find myself sheathing my blades, then presenting my blood-stained hands to the medic.

She doesn't touch me. But I feel her warmth on my still bleeding finger tips.

 _There he is! I dash down a dark alley, shoving trash cans out of the way as I make my way to him. His arms are tied together, as are his legs. He's still bleeding from a gash on the side of his head—left for dead, no doubt._

 _I claw at his binds, trying to release him, uncaring that I feel the wire ripping into my skin, tearing away my flesh. If I don't get him to Inuzuka's, he'll die! "Don't you fucking dare die on me, you asshole!"_

A genjutsu sequence. No… a mind walk.

"Calm down, Aya. I'm not here to hurt you," I hear a familiar voice. Yamanaka Inoichi, Jounin, age thirty-two. Married to Yamanaka Mariko, same age. Classmates to mama and the Fourth. Parents of one Yamanaka Ino. "You have a very interesting thought process. But that's not why I'm here. I needed to know where you found Naruto, and in what state."

You know. Now get out.

"In a minute. You see, Hana is still checking you for wounds. And this way we know you won't try mauling her." That's a lie, I can't move, so there's no chance. "Maybe you're right. But given we've got nothing to go on with how skilled you are, we figure not taking any chances is for the best. I swear to you, we're not going to hurt you, Naruto, or the pup. We only want to help."

Ah yes, because that asshole from earlier just wanted to help. Or Kanatsu just wanted to help. Or how about the piece of shit…

"Hmm?" I feel him moving. He's going to start checking other memories. "It's alright, I just—"

GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!

I flood my skull with chakra, drowning out his chakra as best I can.

Inuzuka's still scanning me.

I can't move. I dredge up every last bit of anger, of rage, of hatred I've bottled up, and I release it all in one go.

A maelstrom of killing intent slams into them like a tsunami.

I flood my body with chakra, trying to overpower whatever jutsu keeps me here.

My foot twitches. Not happening.

I mould my chakra, casting Hell Viewing jutsu on Inuzuka, then quickly casting False Surroundings on myself.

I fight to move, hoping to confuse my trapper's senses. My foot twitches again, but that's it.

I sniff.

No, this is all wrong. Someone smells much closer to me than my eyes are telling me.

I do the genjutsu-release.

The steady beating of a heart. The warmth of an embrace. A scent that echoes down the corridors of my mind. A scent I once knew so well.

"It's alright, Aya-chan. It's alright. Auntie's got you," Nara-sensei coos, her words pulling at the strings of my heart. My head is lodged against her chest, her flak jacket unzipped as so I can feel her. Truly feel her.

My vision's blurry, so they took my glasses.

My hands grip her shirt, holding onto her like my life depends on it. I don't know what the hell is going on anymore. Is this another genjutsu? Is this real?

"Hana checked you. You broke three of your fingers trying to get Naruto untied." Her voice, her tone. It's so soothing, so calming. "Inoichi saw what he needs to make his report. No more genjutsus, no more tricks. You're safe. Right here, right now. You're safe with me, Aya-chan."

"Then… why… why'd you attack me?" The broken voice bleeding out of my voice box does nothing to set me at ease. And yet, the once rising panic is still, muted.

"Would you have let us help you any other way?"

I sigh, unwilling to agree, but unable to refute.

"I wish there was, you know. Some way you'd let me help you. Please, Aya. You know I just want to help you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting here. In the Naras bathroom. Stark naked as sensei washes my hair for me—it's impossible to do with three fingers in mini casts so I don't use them.

This night only seems to get stranger and stranger. This night that won't fucking end.

I clearly recall sensei demanding I spend the night at her place. I clearly recall her demanding that Uzumaki and my pup be brought as well. But I don't know how I got here—that's completely blank.

I remember sensei demanding I take a bath, I remember her offering me a hand. But I don't remember what I said, or how I reacted. I remember being led into the changing room, where sensei suggested I get undressed while she gets me something to wear. But I don't remember her leaving or coming back, only that she untied my forehead protector, and helped me get undressed.

My memory seems more splotchy than usual. Tonight was just too much to take in, I guess.

The next thing I know, I'm in a tub, soaking with my hand on the edge to not wet my bandages. I feel my head against sensei, but I don't know what part of her. Then suddenly I'm in her lap, my head lodged between her breasts and her heartbeat crowding out the worst of my day.

I feel the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. I feel the warmth of her life telling me I'm not alone.

Then suddenly, I'm alone again. Tucked into a futon on the floor in the corner of the room. I'm in my apartment. There's knocking at the door. Who could that be?

I get out of my futon, stumbling to the door and opening it. It wasn't locked?

Hyuuga.

She's bleeding. Her right arm is severed at the elbow. Her left eye hangs out of its socket. And she drags her clearly broken leg as she hobbles to me.

There's a sword lobbed in her chest, in her lung. She gasps as she fights for every wheezing breath.

"I'm," **wheeze, wheeze,** "sorry," **wheeze,** "Aya," **wheeze,** "I," **wheeze, wheeze,** "won't be," **wheeze,** "coming," **wheeze, wheeze,** "home." The life starts fading from her eye.

no.

No.

NO!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

A scream fills the room.

A thud. My shoulder hurts.

I claw at the thing strangling me.

I can't use my left hand.

I don't understand.

What's going on?

Where am I?

The screaming gets louder.

And louder.

Until at last it chokes off into a pitiful sob.

I open my eyes.

Everything's dark, blurred. My cheeks are wet.

I take in the world around me.

I'm half off a bed. A regular bed. Not the futon of my apartment. Not the queen sized bed where I sleep in my den.

I feel around me. I landed shoulder-first on the wooden floor.

A door flies open, but I can't see what's going on around me.

"Aya! Are you alright?!" Sensei? What's she doing here?

It takes some doing, but between the two of us, I'm untangled from the constricting sheet. Only to be on the receiving end of a hug attack. "What happened, sweetie? Why were you screaming?"

I shake my head, unable to remember what this nightmare was about _this time_. I know it was a nightmare. I only have nightmares.

"N-nothing," I drone, grateful for the warmth seeping into me one steady heartbeat at a time.

"Don't you want to talk about it?" she presses, begging me to open up a little.

"D-don't 'member," I mutter, holding onto her a little tighter.

"Alright. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

I shake my head almost violently. "D-don't… don't go," I beg, tears already streaming down my cheeks.

A low sussing sound accompanies the steady breathing and the drumming heartbeat. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm not going anywhere."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 5_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: R &R Darlings!  
_**


	6. Necessary deceit

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 6 – Necessary deceit**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I hear words. Sentences. Questions, statements. Like I give a damn about any of that. All I care about is that the pup is eating beside me, that Uzumaki sits across from me where I can see him.

My left hand is all fucked up. Middle finger, index finger, and thumb, all broken in three places. Uzumaki looks even more messed up than I feel, though.

His bandages have already been removed—stupid healing rate is making me jealous—but he's still black and blue. He hasn't said a word all morning. Not that I'm any better.

Sensei, Nara-san, and Nara-sama have all tried getting us to speak. I admire their determination. But none of it seeps through. At all.

I fumble with my chopsticks, trying to work my right hand the way I need it to. It hurts too much to allow for half of the delicate motions needed for chopsticks. Still, I eat without a word of complaint.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Aya?" I stand with my hand poised to twist the knob, to head out to start training. So why does Nara-sama need me? I turn to him, unasked questions in my eyes. "Do you have a moment? I'd like to speak with you."

"Shika-chan?" Sensei doesn't seem know what this is about either.

I release the door, turning to him. His beady eyes take me in, studying my stance, my weapons, how I favour my left hand. He doesn't like what he sees—or is he worried?

"There's going to be a Council meeting today. They're going to be out for blood, given another incident involves you," he begins. Though his stance is lazy, his eyes show concern. "They've been calling Hokage-sama out on how lenient he is with you. How you seem to have ties with Anbu, which shouldn't be possible."

"I see," I drone, wondering where this is going. He wouldn't open his mouth unless he had a plan. That plan obviously needs something from me. That means he needs something from me.

"The clans will be up in arms, both civilian and shinobi. They want what you guard. And they're pissed another attempt has failed," he continues, not mincing words. I nod, having figured as much. It's why I've been studying laws and customs, to know what they can try, to predict their moves, and as an added check if their attempts are legal.

"They've been trying for years, Nara-sama. You know that," I drone. He nods, the ghost of a frown flashing over his features.

"They're running out of options. And it's making them desperate." I narrow my eyes, wondering about that. It's true, they haven't resorted to these tricks before. With two genin being targeted, Anbu already involved, and Hokage-dono having all the reason he needs to protect us—if the mood strikes him—that means they're left with…

"They're going to try legal manipulation," I drone. What angle? Adoption? No, I'm legally an adult, that isn't an option. But… Hmm. What are you willing to reveal, Nara-sama? "Okay, drawing a blank."

"The only options are adoption, arranged marriage, and declaring you unfit to be a kunoichi," he offers, his eyes studying me once again. He's giving me breadcrumbs? He wants to see if I'll puzzle this out?

Okay. I already knocked off adoption. Arranged marriage would need my permission, and I'm not agreeing to…

"Coercion tactics," I murmur. I cross my arms, mutely bitching about the pain, but doing it anyway.

If they can find some kind of leverage over me, they can force me to agree. But I've only shown I care about two people: Hyuuga and Uzumaki. That means they are in the most immediate danger.

Hyuuga has her clan to protect her politically, she's an Anbu Op, and currently away on a mission. She's the less likely target, for now. So they're more likely to target Uzumaki. Okay, so I need to hammer into that thick skull of his that he cannot agree to anything without…

"Fuck," I grouse, thinking back on the scene with Operative Mouse. He cast a genjutsu on Uzumaki to make him comply. Sure it's not legally binding, but if it's possible, and they get desperate enough, they could try to brainwash him into doing whatever they please and then use him as bait to get to me.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, hating how complicated my life just became.

Okay. So that's something I need to keep an eye on. What was the last option? Declaring me unfit? What could that possibly do? Affect my income? The den is paid off. My bills are all paid on time, and I live so minimally that I can survive off mama's and papa's bank accounts. That means it isn't about me directly, but Uzumaki indirectly to round back to me.

If I'm no longer a kunoichi, my shadow guard status is null and void. That means he's 'defenseless'. And I'd be just another citizen, just one with shinobi training. So if I attack anyone, especially a shinobi, it automatically puts me on the wrong side of the law.

That is disturbing.

So Uzumaki's 'great defender' is left legally lame. And that leaves him open to manipulation. And that means they can easier use him to get to me to get to the hidden archives.

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll be extra careful with that," I assure him, bowing.

"There's more," he asserts. I freeze mid-bow and narrow my eyes, wondering what he means. "You've figured out how they'll get you, but you haven't figured out any defences. There's a Council meeting _today_. There's no time to play it by ear. You need a plan, and you need one now."

I sigh as I right myself, hating how right he is.

"I'm not letting those **animals** lay a _finger_ on her!" Nara-sensei grinds out. Her eyes are fierce, her jaws clenched, fists balled so tight I see veins popping out. Let alone the murder plainly spelled on her face, or how her body trembles with rage. Has she been spending too much time with Uzumaki?

"Suggestions?" I ask, curious what his angle is. Nara-sensei has played it straight with me, even if only after the fact. Is her husband the same?

"Several. And I'm not saying you should do any of them. Just think about it, and let me know if I can help you with it." Off to a rough start, but I'm listening. "The first is an arranged marriage with either Chouji or Shikamaru. This would give our clans full rights to fend off any attempt on you, and by extension Naruto."

"No." Nara-san is insufferable at the best of times. And though I certainly have a thing for Chouji-san, I… well, I wonder if that isn't more of a cry for someone's attention, and less of a romantic crush. Let alone that I'm questioning if I'm even into guys.

"The second is adoption. Though you are legally an adult, you may still opt into an adoption into any clan or family that offers. There are quite a few legal loopholes to contend with, but nothing we can't handle if you choose this route."

"The third?" I'm not even going down that road.

"Less of an option and more of a desperation move. If you make me, Inoichi, or Chouza your legal representative at council meetings, we could thwart any attempt on you from that angle. It doesn't allow for direct legal action, and it doesn't allow us the right to defend you if they arrange trouble with Hokage-sama directly. Which, while unlikely, isn't impossible if they are motivated enough. And it doesn't extend to Naruto."

And given his status of Nine-tail's host, there would be no way for anyone to try to help him politically without presenting themselves as making a power play—and no one will take well to that.

"No other options you can think of?" I press, wondering what he's holding back.

"Plenty. But none that are as iron clad as the first two. I'll fight for you either way, and the same can be said for Inoichi and Chouza. But if ever I am not present at a meeting, and this isn't too hard to arrange, they can try making their move. And that means I cannot protect you. However, if I am legally your father, there is nothing they can do to get around me. Not legally, not politically. And if you are of our clan, that means that by virtue of definition the entire clan will be looking out for you, which spills over into the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Sarutobi clans. They'd have to be a fool to try anything with you and/or Naruto again."

"Let alone the risk of upsetting a Nara," I tease, laughing at my own words. "So why didn't you try to adopt me before?"

"Because you were slated to be _their_ shadow guard," he drones, rolling his eyes like it was obvious. Honestly, he's not wrong. If he did, it would be a power play. It's still a power play now, but they can't block the adoption if I can legally agree to it.

But it would mean I'm no longer Namiki Aya—I'd be Nara Aya. I'm not sure how I should feel about that.

"They want you isolated, Aya. It makes you easier to manipulate, whether you like it or not. Keep that in mind when you get the summons later." I nod, looking away and sorting it all away for now. "And, Aya?"

His finger gently tugs at my chin. I look up at him, wondering that he got so close. "Yoshino and I will be here for you, no matter what you choose. And you can bank on me ruining every one of their plots if it's within my power."

"N-nn," I noise, looking away, unable to face the earnest emotions in his eyes.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Running up the tree trunk, focusing chakra in the soles of my feet, but I'm at war with myself. Nara-sama's words ring in my ears, his offer wound around my heart like barbed wire.

I…

…

I…

What do I say to that? What do I think about that? What do I feel about that?

No matter what my brain thinks, my heart wants this to be real. My heart wants someone to notice me when I'm gone—no matter that plans haven't changed.

But what would that do to them? Finding out that I took my own life when they so openly care for me?

And more than that, his words—his explanation of why no one tried getting close to me—struck a chord, ringing too purely of truth for it to be wholly made up. I don't know what to make of any of thi—

I lose my footing again, so I mark this spot with my kunai and push off hard and ricochet off the other trunks so I ease down to the ground.

Once my feet are on the ground, I look up to gauge my progress. Halfway up. Given the damn trees around here are two-hundred metres tall, I'll consider that a win. Alright. Let's try walking up instead of running. Let's see if I can really control it.

"Alright, let's break for lunch," sensei suggests, just as I place my foot against the trunk. I sigh, having hoped to put that off a little longer.

I turn to her, seeing her, Uzumaki, and Hatake quietly discussing something. Uzumaki hasn't uttered a word that I'm aware of, but his hallow gaze falls on me and it speaks volumes—he worries.

I plop onto the dirt beside sensei, offering blondie a little smile. He looks away. "What'd the idiot tell you, Uzumaki?"

He opens his mouth, blushes up a storm and shuts it again.

"Something with me. And to boot something about a romantic involvement," I drone. He blushes even deeper. "Tell me?"

He opens his mouth then closes it again, over and over, like a fish out of water. "H-he said… that a Namiki… only ever trains someone they love…?"

I blink, wondering about that. "So a non-Namiki is telling you something about a Namiki… and you take it as gospel?" His eyes go wide with shock. Slowly his lips curl upwards, and mischief dances in his eyes.

"So you're saying you're not head over heels for me? Aya-chan, that hurts!" I groan, rolling my eyes up into my head.

"Fine. Go back into zombie mode. Dummy." He laughs, obviously enjoying how he's riling me up. "So who is she?"

His laughter dies down, his eyes filled with questions.

"The girl you like. You obviously felt torn between us, so that means it's quite the crush. And don't pretend it's pinkie. I know better."

"Not tellin'," he huffs, crossing his arms and pouting like the brat that he is. Good. He's not falling apart.

"So what do you think about Nara-sama's offer?" I switch to the thing we need to figure out. This affects him just as much as it affects me, so he should have his fair say.

"…" his sky blue eyes become a cloudy winter's day, his gaze trained on the dirt as pokes and prods it. "Why're you askin' me that? It's not like…"

"Uzumaki, get off your high horse," I grumble, suddenly hyper aware of the pup jumping from my lap and running over to him—nibbling on one of his toes just for the hell of it. Uzumaki barely seems to notice. "I'm asking you because I need an extra brain to bounce it off of. And frankly sensei'd jump at the chance of playing dress-up more often… so odds of her not steering me towards adoption or marrying her lazy lump of a son are negligible."

"Ah, well—"

"No one asked you, Hatake," I snipe. Sensei bites her lip, trying to hide her smile and/or laughter—and sucking at both. "So, seriously. Politically adoption is the smarter option, given it helps both of us… and having a brother to annoy wouldn't be so bad."

"You annoy me all the time," he snipes, glaring at me.

"Yeah, and you never have intelligent counters for any of it. Now focus, Uzumaki."

"Oh, yeah! Well you're into porn!"

"Huh?" I shake my head raising my eyebrow in confusion. "I'm not you, moron. I don't get into that junk."

"Nuh uh! I saw Icha-Icha books in your pile!" he declares, crossing his arms and looking smug, as if he's already won the battle. Sensei and Hatake both look intrigued by that revelation.

I shrug, conceding that point. "Yeah, I read them. That's not the same as enjoying them, though," I point out. "After all, reading about how a man who thinks he's a woman slayer describing conquests that are clearly unrealistic only serves to highlight how clueless he is about females as a whole. The only thing he got right is the anatomy."

Sensei's shoulders start quaking, her eyes twinkling with amusement and obviously agreeing with me on that. "Well, okay. Fine. I'll give you that. But what about that new book? The one with two women?" That gets Hatake REALLY interested. Is he giggling pervertedly? A girl reading lesbian porn must be a fetish of some sort.

"Hmm? In her arms? Not classified as such. It's just a girl-on-girl romance," I shrug failing to see how he's achieving much of anything. More importantly! He's sidetracking me! "And are you _trying_ to piss me off? We're having a serious discussion, moron!"

"So, wait. Reading guy on girl porn doesn't do anything for you?" he asks, confused.

"Didn't I just say that? Now stop ge—"

"But you've read that girl-on-girl book like a dozen times," he sounds confused. "And you never read any other book that often."

I raise my finger, about to shut down that argument. "I…" But the fact is, that's a good point. "Not the point. Nara's offer. What do you think?"

"Aya-chan?" Uzumaki, don't go off topic again. Seriously. "You're not into guys."

"And this has what to do with a decision that might well need to be made today?" I press, shaking my head in dismay.

"Well… nothing really, but I'm confused. I thought you had a thing for Choji."

"Uzumaki! Focus, damn it! I need to figure out an answer and I haven't come up with anything on my own."

"You're not denying it. Girls with a major crush deny it."

"This girl has something major on her mind, and you being a complete ass is not helping me with that!"

"But I am helping you with that. I'm helping you realise you like girls. That's why you aren't affected by the usual porn. I mean, I know even the girls in our class are affected by that. I tried a Sasuke version of the sexy jutsu, and they passed out just like Iruka-sensei did." Wait… did Umino pass out with the Uchiha-esque nudity, or is he comparing the passing out via nudity?

I groan. "You're a real idiot. I'll figure that out when I'm ready to figure that out."

"Well, isn't it important to figure that out before you go agreeing to an adoption? I mean, Shikaku-san would legally be allowed to arrange a marriage for you. And if they don't know you're not into guys, wouldn't that have a major effect on you?"

"I…" Since when are you so damn insightful, moron?!

I massage my temples, trying to ease the building headache coming on.

"If it helps, I won't care either way," sensei soothes, her hand on my elbow and tugging me to lie in her lap. Hmm, don't mind if I do.

Laying down, my ear against her thigh, I find myself wondering about this mindjob Uzumaki gave me. Don't I have enough to figure out right now?

"Anyway, we were going to have lunch." More food to shovel in. _Yay_.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"No, Namiki. The summons is only for Uzumaki," comes the usual crap. I ignore them, walking through the council doors with sensei, Uzumaki, and a suddenly clingy Hatake—what's that about?

At any rate, I find myself in the middle of the whole council, though there are more than a few Civilian Council seats empty—I'm going to miss them, I really am.

"What's the meaning of this?! We summoned Genin Uzumaki Naruto!" some idiot from the Shinobi Council starts up. I wince, the noise slamming into me. And the pup whimpers as well, barking at the idiot.

I reach down, picking her up and letting her snuggle into my embrace—this is too much for her, too.

"What does this council need of Uzumaki?" I demand, doing all I can to keep my stance neutral—though I really want to slap that asshat that starting shouting.

"We need a report on the shinobi he attacked," comes the insinuation. Oh, really?

"So you mean to say that a shinobi was attacked, and in retribution tried to coerce his way into my home?" I counter, glaring at the shinobi that made that asinine claim. There are quite a few squirming in their seat, not having an easy counter to that. "I think it far more likely that this attack on Uzumaki was premeditated, and he was targeted for his closeness to me. But that is beside the point. The shinobi in question was brought in, and is therefore in T&I's hands, correct?"

There's a nervous tension in the air, no one seems to have an answer for that either.

"So unless there's some reason why this council is sticking their nose into an ongoing investigation, I suggest you all keep your idle speculation to yourselves."

Nervous glances, uncomfortable murmurs, and no one admitting I make sense. They're going to switch tack and try getting to me far more directly. "And why do you think you are being targeted?" another shinobi asks.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I shrug, refusing to admit to what they suspect. I'm not falling for that lame ploy. "If there is nothing else?"

"I would like to hear your report, Genin Namiki," another shinobi tries. This one with half his face covered in bandages and an 'X' shaped scar on his chin. His sole visible eye bores into me, challenging me, showing me he feels he's the true alpha.

"When you're Hokage, I'll consider your request," I drone, unimpressed. "More importantly, as far as I am aware, my role and involvement has been confirmed by Anbu and by Yamanaka Inoichi. As such, there is no need for this council to ask me anything. Is that assessment correct?"

There is even more nervous tension. They aren't getting me on that either. They'll be switching tack again, perhaps start asking me things to get me off my game.

"Oh, but there is, Aya-chan," some shit-faced baboon asks, his gaze making me profoundly uncomfortable. "I have a proposition for you."

"That's nice. Your silence would be nicer," I drone, tilting my head to one side. Romance, is it? An arranged marriage, no doubt. And of course to someone 'important' of his clan. "I am not entertaining any inquiries into baby making. So kindly keep that shit to yourself."

There are a few amused chuckles this time, mostly from Nara-sama, his two buddies, and Inuzuka.

"Surely, you understand our desire to—"

"To what? To tell a twelve year old who her baby's daddy will be? Thanks for caring, but I'm not into old fucks." That's all it takes to get Inuzuka to burst into peels of barked laughter.

"I still say you're not into guys," Uzumaki teases, elbowing me playfully. I roll my eyes, knowing—

"Preposterous! The Namiki family needs an heir!" And there comes the predictable bullshit.

"And that is the concern of the Namiki family, not… whoever you are or whatever clan you hail from," I remind them whose business they're minding. "Now, unless you fools have something of actual importance to say?" I glare at Hokage-dono, wondering why he lets this bullshit play out.

"Konoha needs the Namiki family to—"

"And that is the business of the Namiki family. Keep minding my family business, and I will start minding yours. If there is nothing else?"

"Yes, Aya-chan, there is," a civilian starts up.

"This council should better stop referring to me so familiarly. I am Genin Namiki. Refer to me as such or I start mirroring the lack of respect," I threaten. They start shifting in their seats, assessing that they aren't gaining any ground.

"Then I'm afraid I will have to motion for the Clan Restoration Act," some idiot tries.

"And I'm afraid I'll have to call your intelligence into question. That bylaw may only be enacted if the person in question is a willing participant. I have already clearly stated I am not discussing anything like that with you." Point in case why I hate people. And why I need to know more about any and everything than these fools. Nara-sama, I understand your suggestion so much better now. They'd piss themselves if they thought they were trying this with your daughter.

"Aya-chan, I—"

I unsheathe a tanto right-handed, rolling my shoulder to work out the kink from training all fucking morning. "Strike one," I drone.

The silence that follows is deafening.

Hmm. Maybe I can give Nara-sama a halfway solution that shows there are on-going talks, but nothing solid as yet? It certain is a plausible solution, and it would get these assholes off my back almost indefinitely.

I turn to Nara-sama, meeting his blank gaze with a mute begging for him to step in. I can't just up and call him anything familiar—they'll know it's a ploy. So, this gets them questioning things, and with his wife here with me? With her present last time as well? They'll start puzzling it out, and they won't like what they find. That's what I need, so if the need comes up, the groundwork will already have been lain.

"Alright, Aya-chan. I'll handle it, but you need to calm down, sweetie," Nara-sama soothes. He catches on quick. I nod, sheathing my tanto and taking a deep breath. The incredulous looks don't make it easier to calm down, so I close my eyes, trying to block them out for a moment.

A hand lands on my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I turn to sensei. Her little smile, how her twinkle just for me. I sigh, stepping just a little closer to her.

"Aya has already made her stance perfectly clear. There is no reason to push this further. I motion for this to be closed and that it not be opened again," Nara-sama drawls. Yamanaka seconds it, Akimichi thirds it. It goes to a vote, but too few hands are going up. They don't want this closed, they want an angle to trouble me.

I screw my eyes shut, hating where this is going. "Daddy, really," I grind out. Silence hangs heavy in the air. Even more so when sensei wraps her arm around me to keep me calm. "If they keep pushing this, I won't keep my promise." I made no promises, of course, but they don't need to know that.

"Maybe that's exactly what they want," Nara-sama drawls. My eyes pop open, finding his gaze sharpening to the point that people start to swallow, hard. That Yamanaka lays a hand on his shoulder, seemingly to calm him down, isn't helping their nerves any.

"So Nara-sama has made his move," someone is dumb enough to murmur. He's made no move he hasn't discussed with me in advance, so I'm fine with it.

"Watch your tongue, Haruno. If you hadn't been constantly blocking me, we'd have adopted Aya the day her mother died," Nara-sama tries being laconic, but I see anger burning in his eyes. He glances at me, regret flickering over his features before it's once again drowned in his anger towards members of this council. I don't bother guessing which ones.

"So you're playing on nostalgia?! Toying with the fragile heart of a girl mourning her family?!" the same woman demands, seeming upset—her voice a shrill shriek that reminds me of nails on a chalkboard. I snort, shaking my head.

"Keep pushing me, Haruno," Nara-sama dares her, his glare making her fidget in her seat. "Aya came to us of her own free will. We've done nothing without her consent. And everyone here heard perfectly well what she called me. If you feel Yoshino and I are manipulating her, then by all means, try it for yourself. See how that works out."

"And how do we know this isn't a ploy?" the mummy chimes in.

"Try touching her, then," Nara-sama drawls, shrugging. Everyone's focus shifts to sensei's arm wrapped around me. They are no doubt making all the right connections with how she can Nara-sama are keeping me calm.

"Hey, hey, Aya-chan," Uzumaki starts bugging me, poking my cheek to get under my skin. I glare at him, wondering what stupidity he's about to start. The mischief in his eyes tells me it's nothing good. "Don't you have to get back to training? I mean, we ain't getting any stronger here listening those old fossils." I try to hide how amused I am with how he words that, but the angered mutterings of the council isn't making that very easy.

"Agreed," Nara-sama drawls. "I'll take it from here, sweetie." Then he gets a mischievous look in his eyes. Uzumaki, what are you doing to them? They weren't like this before… right?

Nara-sama beckons to me, tapping his cheek with his finger. I sigh, blushing at what he's asking of me. Still, I move around the collection of idiots, doing all I can to ignore how everyone's gaze is focused on me. I try not to give them the satisfaction of getting under my skin, but they really are.

I hate how I feel them staring at every part of me; some in a pervy way, some incredulously. Most, however, are blank. Blankly staring at me, unsure what to make of any of this.

Nara-sama scoots his chair back, to make it easier for me, offering his cheek. I don't hesitate, kissing his cheek and giving him a quick, one-armed hug. I need to be mindful of an overwhelmed pup and three broken fingers, after all.

"Give 'em hell for me?" I murmur, knowing they'll hear me.

"Will do, sweetie." He doesn't have to sound so amused.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After spending the rest of the day training and doing groceries—I'm supposed to help with cleaning, too, but sensei doesn't want to take risks with my fingers—dinnertime rolls around. I can't help with much, given my situation, but sensei doesn't seem to care. She's plenty happy that I keep her company in the kitchen.

When it's time for dinner to be served, she orders me to go have a seat. Nara-sama and Nara-san scoot apart, making a spot free for me. I gaze at them, wondering what to do. I know the offer was under the guise of political protection…

But they offer more than that. They offer _so much more_.

"Come on, Aya. We don't bite," Nara-san teases, a little smile on his face. Though nervous and unsure, I sit between them all the same. I worry that the pup will get defensive, but she seems fine with it.

I'm not sure what to make of any of this anymore. Maybe it's because I've spent so much time with them. Maybe it's because mama used to bring me here when she was out on missions—maybe that comfort lingered all these years and I just had to rediscovered it. Maybe it's because I see the effort they put into helping me, into setting me at ease.

What I know… all I need to know… is that the little voice in my head telling me not to trust them is silent. That worries me. And yet, even as I lay my head against Nara-sama's arm, hoping to feel the warmth of life and the living around me, even as he snakes said arm around me in a one-armed hug, even as the light scent of his sweat fills my senses… I feel nothing.

No warning bells going off. No suspicion there's something behind this. No plan I need to follow to the letter to get what I need. No need to do anything at all.

A gentle stillness envelopes me. A calm I'm not sure I ever really knew.

I don't understand, but I can't bring myself to care.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Aw, man, that was good!" Uzumaki enthuses, patting his distended tummy happily. The dishes haven't been cleared away, there's a sense of companionable chaos hanging in the air. I bite my lip, trying not to draw too much attention to him and how he's clearly glowing from all the food he's been gorging on lately.

I'm grateful his bruises are already far less noticeable. No doubt they'll be gone by morning.

"Oh, sweetie?" sensei calls to me from across the table, her gaze meeting mine. The soft smile in her eyes disarms the instinct in me, assuring me this isn't a challenge of any kind. I find myself at odds with that notion. "There's someone Shikaku and I want you to meet. Two someones actually."

"Nn?" I noise, unsure what to make of that.

"Well, since you're still living in your house, and nothing has been officially decided, Shikaku and I discussed the options. And, well… making sure you have a guard or two until the idiot brigade accepts the situation isn't a bad idea."

I blink. I blink again. I tilt my head to one side, half hoping the puzzle will fall into place with the new angle. It doesn't.

…

Unless… Well, there are a few ways that can be taken.

From Konoha's perspective, they would see that the Nara clan is taking care of me, even if I live in another house. They would see that the Naras aren't joking around, and that I am being guarded around the clock. And more importantly, they would see that no attempt on me, in any form or fashion, will be tolerated.

But… this could also be taken from a more personal perspective. That I'm worth protecting… that I'm worth all they do for me…

Okay, whoa! Take a step back, you hopeless dipshit! Let's think about this!

So. She isn't pushing me to move in with them, or move anywhere. She isn't pushing me to decide anything. She and Nara-sama discussed it—that's a bit hard to believe given I've been with sensei this whole time, but I sense no deceit all the same. It's possible they discussed this before this morning…?

Not enough information on that front. Okay, what else? Ah, the guards thing. She isn't exactly saying I'm taking any guards, she said it isn't a bad idea—but that insinuates that I should.

Okay… this is entering rocky terrain. Need to watch my step.

"Nn," Nara-sama noises, nodding. "They've made one overt attempt with a since-confirmed chuunin agent. They failed. That means, if they try this again, they'll need to up than ante. That means we're looking at several uncomfortable possibilities. One being a team, and not a lone actor. Another is selecting a jounin they can trust. While there's no way to know for sure, I'd prefer it if we didn't take the risk. Is this a line of logic you can agree with?"

Well, let's see. If they get desperate enough, and they are showing that they become increasingly desperate… well, yeah. That's what I'd do if I had the resources and the enemy was showing this level of resilience.

"That means we cannot allow for loose ends. Any hole in this plan will be all the chance they need," I point out, thinking about it some more. "Luckily I haven't shown any connection to anyone other than Uzumaki and Inuzuka. But if their intel is even half decent, they might misconstrue Yamanaka's attempt to get close to me as a way in. And Uzumaki is right, people will think Ch… Chouji-san is another plausibility."

I cross my arms furrowing my brow as I go over that. There can be no stone unturned, not this time. I've upped the ante considerably by allowing Nara-sama and sensei to step in. That means anyone with dormant plans may well get desperate enough to do something stupid. And that's something I can't not take into consideration.

"That means Uzumaki can't stay at his apartment." Said Uzumaki's eyes widen with shock. Is he surprised I'm including him in this plot session, or is it the realization that this is why I tried including him in my idea generating phase earlier?

"He'll need to either stay here, or in my den. And the others' families will need to be informed of the heightened risk factors," I offer, thinking about it some more. "More than that, is the mummy with the 'X' scar on his chin. He was giving off major bad vibes. I don't know if he'll try something, but that isn't something I'm willing to write off entirely."

"Shimura Danzo," Nara-sama murmurs, a faraway look in his eyes and a pinched expression on his face. "Yeah. He's someone you don't want to lose track of."

"Hmm…" I noise, thinking about that. The name doesn't mean anything to me, but Nara-sama's reaction alone says a lot. I don't know the extent of what I'm now facing, and frankly the attempts have only gotten worse thus far—no one's ever been attacked… which is strange now that I think about it…

"Why are they becoming steadily more active in their attempts? After all, they could have easily overpowered me before… even now… what am I missing?" I murmur, thinking about it more.

"The status quo," Nara-sama drawls, crossing his arms. "They were keeping each other in check, tripping each other up along the way. But now… you're showing that you're becoming a problem for their plans."

Hmm. Yeah, so lying about my skills all these years has been my best defense. But… "Me injuring a jounin isn't helping my case any," I grouse, pinching the bri—

Ow, ow, ow! Do NOT bend the fingers on your left hand, you twat! That FUCKING **HURTS**!

Nara-sama and Nara-san smirk. Sensei grins, though, beaming at me with a sense of pride lining her eyes. Uzumaki's more entertained with my choice in words—if the mischief in his little grin says anything. And no one bothers noticing that I just hurt my damn hand!

"I talked to Kakashi," Nara-sama marches right along. "He agrees the added precautions can't hurt. So he'll be picking up Naruto-kun every morning before training, and he'll be bringing him back here afterwards."

"Alright! That means I won't be stuck waitin' on… oh, wait… I 'll just be waitin' here on him instead," Uzumaki grouses, and gets ignored.

"Makes sense," I agree. Honestly, that takes care of the worst of my fears. Sure, Hatake is an unknown, but he's an unknown that is the Fourth's sole surviving student. Add his canine-like heritage and there's no doubt in my mind he knows exactly who Uzumaki really is. And it explains his presence today.

"Alright. I can't say I'm thrilled about it, but I see the reasoning and agree with it for the most part. When I am meeting these two?"

"They'll be here in half an hour," sensei informs me, looking at the clock to confirm the time—I doubt she lost track of the time, though.

"Alright. What's the plan, are they staying in my den, or are they to get me there and leave?" I need more details than what's been offered. I know you two have been plotting, so how many of your cards are you willing to show me?

"That's up to you, sweetie," Nara-sama assures me. "I'd prefer it if they stayed with you, but the last thing I need is getting you defensive when the stakes will only get higher from here on in. So what do you want them to do?"

Hmm. He makes sense. Him being pushy would make me defensive, the stakes have increased to try to match—or at least work around—the power I show I wield, and with the Nara clan making such a clear move to protect me I'm showing more clout than any other time in my life, or perhaps even in the Namiki family's his…tory? Nah, mama being the Fourth's most trusted shinobi outstrips this any day of the week.

"I don't want to decide that until I've met them. If I get a funny vibe, I'm willing to spend the night here so you'll have a chance to arrange someone else. Is that fair?"

"Ideal, actually," Nara-sama breathes in relief. A tension I hadn't noticed in him evaporates, leaving smiling eyes in its wake. "Thank you. I was afraid you'd fight me in this."

I'm tempted to. I really am. But this is quickly becoming more than I can handle alone, and Uzumaki almost died as things stand. If I walk away, N…

"You were planning on stationing them outside my gate if this fell through," I drone, rolling my eyes and shaking my head.

"The thought has crossed my mind, yes." He's smiling a little too wide for that to be accurate.

"I call bullshit." Sensei narrows her eyes at my word choice. Great, she'll be trying to 'educate that out of me'. "In fact, I'm willing to bet you were going to order them to stand guard all night in the tree just outside my gate if I didn't want them inside."

"Hmm. A solid tactic. But, no. I'd selected these two because they are the least likely to make you defensive. If you denied them I'd have a proper team of a sensor, a plotter, and two brawns outside your home." A Yamanaka, a Nara, and an Akimichi no doubt—I'm almost certain the extra brawns would have been a Sarutobi. Still, that's fair. And a tactic I can appreciate.

"Fine, fine. I swear you two are becoming as persistent as Hyuuga," I tease, smiling a little. I'm quick to shake that off, though. Uzumaki needs to be handled, and he's definitely looking at us like we've steadily been growing more and more heads.

"So, blondie. What's your take on this?" I prod him.

"…" Ah, fish out of water all over again.

"Look, let me give you the facts. If you stay here tonight, you cast your lot in with us. If you stay in my den, you cast your lot in with us. Your alternative is you staying in your apartment and accepting where that leaves you. I don't trust the situation enough to sleep in my apartment, so that means—as far as I'm aware—you'll be on your own. I don't know if they'll try to attack you again so soon, but I don't trust that they'll leave you alone. I've smelled no Anbu Ops subtly keeping an eye on you, so I have no reason to believe Hokage-dono has made any arrangements for you."

Why does sensei look like she's going to cry? Covering her nose and mouth with her hands, and her eyes never leaving mine. What are you…?

Shit. I said 'cast your lot in with us'. Not 'me'. And I said it twice, so she'll know it wasn't a slip of the tongue. Well, desperate times call for desperate as all hell measures.

Anyway. Uzumaki. "So what do you want to do?" I ask, looking in his direction, but not at him. I don't understand why anyone thinks looking someone in the eyes is a sign of sincerity.

"I…" He looks from me to Nara-sama, to Nara-sensei, and back to me. There's a bewildered air about him, a sense that a tornado ripped through his little world and he woke up with Kansas nowhere in sight. He smiles a little, unsure smile, but he meets my gaze without a hint of fear. "I'm with you, Aya-chan. I'm not gonna pretend I understand what the hell half of that was about… but I trust you. Wherever you're going, I'm going."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 6_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: I don't know why, but I never got an e-mail that Chapter 5 was uploaded. For those who didn't know, it was up last night. At any rate, I'm curious what you guys think about this. But only one person seems to have spoken their mind. Oh well.  
_**


	7. Lady's Day

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 7 – Lady's Day**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Oh, sweetie?" I turn to sensei, wondering what's going on. She was halfway to the door, someone having knocked but not announced who it was. She turns back to me, walks back to me, and begins murmuring into my ear so no one else will hear her—other than Nara-sama, I suppose. "These two guards I want you to meet? Well, they're sisters. My nieces actually. The thing about them? They're the ones that found their mother after she committed suicide. It was a month ago, and they haven't said a word since."

My mouth is suddenly dry, my chest a little tighter than usual. I swallow, hard. She knows. They know.

Is this the reason they are bending over backwards to cater to me? Why they're so willing to take on the world for me so I can catch my breath? Because the sting of betrayal from such an act is no stranger to them?

I nod, unsure what to even make of that. I mean, what does that do to you? Finding your mom, being the one to discover she took her own life.

I blink away the tears, unwilling to get emotional about this. I need to focus, I need to figure out what's going on. I need to know if these two…

Damn it, sensei! I know what you're doing! I know you're setting this up to show me what I'd do to you if I take my life!

The front door swings open. "Sorry I took so long. Ah, good evening, girls. Come on in, we were just discussing a few things with Aya-chan." Two kunoichi with flak jackets walk in, their forehead protectors hanging loosely from their necks.

The first thing that strikes me is the hollowness of their eyes and the bags underneath them. They haven't been sleeping well. At all. They saunter over to me, stopping just shy of two metres away. They're taller than me—no big surprise there, given even Uzumaki is taller than me. One looks about sixteen, I guess. The other fourteen. Short, pageboy-styled, black hair. And beady, ebon eyes that don't seem to notice much of anything.

Other than the world-weary eyes and haircut, they look like younger versions of sensei.

"Keiko. Misato. This is Namiki Aya. Aya-chan, Nara Keiko, and Nara Misato. They've agreed to be your guards until further notice," sensei does the introductions. The pair bod their heads, but don't seem willing to open their mouths for much of anything.

I call bullshit on the whole thing. They aren't meant to be my guards. They're meant to have a reason to get and stay close to me for long enough periods that I see every nuance of the damage my death would inflict. More than that, they're so out of it I doubt they'd notice an army amassing right under their noses.

With the next plausible risk being a team of chuunins, possibly specialised in assassination and/or infiltration, these two will be about as useful as a sanitary wipe if you shit yourself in the middle of a fight.

That means that second group, the 'proper team' is under orders to shadow us regardless. That means they're here for little more than social reasons. That means I'm being played, if for understandable reasons.

I grab sensei by the wrist, dragging her into the kitchen to discuss this away from the zombie sisters.

"I'm in no mood for this. The last thing they want is pity, and the last thing I need is two deadweights hanging around my neck when I can barely use either of my hands," I grind out, doing my best to keep my voice down.

"Have you considered that they are capable kunoichis that will get the job done?"

"I've considered that they can barely see through their grief to notice they yet breathe. I know you're going to have that second team shadowing us. But, sensei, come off it! Those two n…"

Insight hits me like a bag of hammers. This isn't about them needing to protect me or Uzumaki. This is about rehabilitating them with a mission they'll see as important, as a personal favour to the patriarch and matriarch of their clan. And something that rubs the consequences of my choice in my face while she's at it.

This is about getting them out of bed in the morning, about giving them something to focus on during the day, about giving them a purpose they'll see as worth breathing for. Sensei's worried they're becoming suicidal as well, that their need to be with their mother weighs heavier on them than whatever once brought smiles to their faces.

"You insensitive…" I… no, Aya, right hand, right hand. Use your right hand!

I pinch the bridge of my noise with my right hand, grumbling under my breath about sensei's bullshit tactic. "Fuck this, sensei. I won't take responsibility for them," I lay it out in no uncertain terms.

"They're supposed to guard you," she tries.

"And that'd be true for every non-Namiki. You want me to grow close to them. You want me to care. And what do you think their suicidal tendencies will do when coupled with my own?" I actually managed that without my voice shaking, without stuttering. I'm impressed. "You know me being declared unfit is going to fuck every chance we have at…"

Sensei's in tears. She rushes me, her arms around me, her lips pressing against my brow, kissing my hair, and holding me even tighter.

I…

She…

I've been played, haven't I.

"It's alright, baby. It's alright." You're playing by a script, lying to me. And now you're telling me it's alright? "Nothing bad is going to happen if you open up. I'm not going to get upset. I'm not going to leave. I'm here for you."

I push her back, looking up at her like she up and lost her fucking mind. The urge to slap the taste out of her mouth is almost overwhelming. "What have you been smoking?"

Instead of answering me, she just pulls me back into a hug. I groan. Do I attract basket cases?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 _Sigh_.

"Aya-chan, I know you're not happy with me, but I also know you see logic in my approach." My arms are already crossed, so I shift my weight to show how much of a reaction she's not getting out of me. Even though we're in her office, with the door firmly shut, she asked _them_ to join us.

The zombie sisters cancelled their subtle transformations, revealing the smudges under their eyes were illusions. Their laconic little smiles, while not sunny or even all that warm, are genuine. All the signs of impending doom and gloom in their eyes are _mysteriously_ absent is well.

"Every other approach has failed with you. Even Kitou-sensei has had to go against the rules to get passed your defences. Because you see it coming and you don't want us worrying about you. So you lie through the teeth to keep us off the trail you already know we're on." Are you still trying? I told you an hour ago that I don't want to hear it.

"If it was Nauto-kun. If he was showing the same signs as you. Would you want me to give up on him simply because he said he was fine?"

 _Sigh._

I screw my eyes shut. I'm not getting emotional about this, sensei. Bark up some other tree.

"We're worried about you, Aya. All of us. Shikaku, Shikamaru, Ino, Naruto, Tsume, Hana, Kiba. Hitomi most of all. Why do you think she brought you here? She knows I'm not giving up on you. She knows I'll keep at it. That I'm going to—"

A tear escapes. The liquid streaming down my face feels warmer than the air around me, making it all the more obvious.

"Hitomi used to come pick you up. Whenever Miwako was in the hospital, or too tired to move. She was the only person other than your mother that would make your eyes light up like it was Christmas."

"Sh-shut up," I murmur, feeling more tears escaping. My crossed arms become more of a self-hug, trying to keep myself… no Aya. Don't. Just don't. Getting emotional is pointless. Emotions are po—

"I love you, Aya," she presses, deaf to my pleas, ignorant to my inner conflict. "I love you enough to fight for you, even when you scream at the top of your lungs to leave you alone. Because I know you don't want to be alone."

My glasses are taken from me. Not that I want to see the begging in her eyes. Not that I want to see her pleading her case why she's being an overbearing, manipulative shrew.

Arms are wrapped around me, sensei's scent filling my world to the brim and crowding all else out.

 _Sigh._

I want to chew her out. I want to scream until my voice gives out. I want to…

 _Sigh._

Who am I kidding? Hyuuga's the one that I want to chew out. She's the one I want to shout at. She's the one I want here to hold me. But what does that even mean? What strange twist in reality am I bearing witness to? What has that clueless idiot done to me?

What…

Why do I need her…?

You'd better come home to me, Hyuuga. I'll never forgive you if you don't…

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Twinkling speckles of light dot the canvas before me. The moon is low on the horizon, having laboured across the sky while I slept. I don't acknowledge the company I keep. I don't want to, and I certainly don't feel the need.

I agreed to let them stay in my den, I assigned a room for them to sleep in. I didn't even complain when I had to help Uzumaki pack what little he felt the urge to save from his apartment—other than empty cups of ramen, more orange jumpsuits, and a picture of his team, he didn't have much.

I smooth the hem of my dress, wondering why in the hell I chose to wear it—sensei having chosen it isn't helping. My shins are exposed to the elements, and they are bitching about the chill in the air. Let alone the fact that I have **NEVER** shown this much skin. Or the fact that if I'm not careful, perverts are only a 'proper' angle away from a panty shot—and broken bones, but that's beside the point.

I don't understand why females wear these things. It's so impractical. I can't fight in this, not without flashing everything I don't want to show. It's not good against the cold. And the way the hem keeps swishing back and forth as I walk, makes me almost hyper-aware of the fact that there's a gaping fucking hole threatening to expose me.

Most of the lights are still out, only the streetlights fend off the invading darkness. I smooth the hem again, mutely bitching about how it constantly feels like it's riding up just for the sake of pissing me off.

What's more, today is my appointment with Kitou and my appointment with Inuzuka for the pup. And here I am in a kimono-styled dress with a flimsy-looking handbag barely big enough to stuff my scrolls into. An electric blue dress, that supposedly brightens up my 'usually dour' features, as the zombie sisters put it.

I sniff, sensing the same Yamanaka that shadowed us last night. Jounin scent, early- to mid-twenties. As a jounin, I know for a fact he can mask his scent, so he's purposely letting me sense him. Is that to comfort me? Is that to send a clear message to others? I don't know. I don't know, and it's grating on me. Not knowing is never a good thing—not knowing things can get you killed.

So why aren't my survival instincts going apeshit?

But then… this could be a good thing. I mean, if I let sensei and Nara-sama adopt me, that means when I die it would fall to someone within the Nara-clan to become Uzumaki's shadow guard. That means I…

Fuck. They would have thought about that. They won't let this work out before Hyuuga gets back. And they no doubt will have precautions set in place to keep…

Sigh.

Hyuuga, you have so much to make up for. You and your stupid meddling is getting me all the attention I avoided for so long.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Sorry for taking so long. Ah, Aya-chan, you look lovely," sensei seems to glow at the sight of me. I glare, grumbling something along the lines of her having chosen this stupid dress in the first place.

I enter her home, already heading for the kitchen, well aware that it's only a ma—

"Oh, not this time, sweetie. I don't want you dirtying your dress." I grumble and complain, not even needing to guess what she's doing. After all, she purposely arranged that our 'free day' perfectly aligns with the free days of Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten. Ignoring that we were supposed to be training, given this is my second day with her.

There's knocking at the door. "Auntie, we're not too early, are we?" Yamanaka. Sensei is going to ask me to get that in three, tw—

"Aya-chan, can you get that please?" Hmm. Am I supposed to be surprise? Hmm. I wonder.

I get up, trudging to the front door. In a dress. And light makeup. And a body spray. And… this is going to be the fucking talk of our graduating class. Guaranteed.

I open the door, knowing full-well sensei wants me to do this 'the right way'. "Sorry for taking so long," I drone, glaring at Yamanaka, Chouji-san, Inuzuka, Hyuuga-san—the shy fidgetter from our class—Aburame, Haruno, and—gag me—Uchiha. My glare dulls somewhat and I continue the script in the driest monotone I can, "Oh, hey, guys. How nice to see you. It's been forever. Won't you come in? We're just sitting to the table." I move out of the way as I swing the door open wider, giving them wide berth so they aren't tempted to touch me.

Uzumaki's laughter rings through the house, almost bringing a smile to my face. Almost.

They stand, rooted to the spot they're in. No one seems capable of movement, or conscious thought. "Arf!" Well, of course Akamaru would. He's probably thinking that same thing as me.

"I know right. Maybe you need to wake him up," I encourage him. Akamaru seems to agree, tapping Inuzuka's head with his paw, trying to get any response out of the statue. When there's no response, again, Akamaru covers his muzzle with a paw, clearly embarrassed by the idiot under him. "Well, if you can't stay I—"

"I can hear you, Aya-chan!"

"Then you come wake these idiots up! This is your doing after all!" I complain, rolling my eyes. "Oi! In or out?!"

"A-ah… I-in," Yamanaka gets her rear in gear and steps into the house. She mutters a greeting to me as she passes, but her jaw is still being dragged along. Idiots, the lot of them.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After a **very** uncomfortable breakfast, with everyone staring openly at me and the pup eating beside me, I turn to sensei. I ask with little more than a glance what is going on, and what she's trying to do.

"So, Sakura-chan. I hear you were top kunoichi. That's quite the honour," sensei shows what she wants from me. She wants to socialise me, show me these people aren't so bad. I snort, looking to Uzumaki. He's the only one here I want to interact with.

"So, Aya-chan," Inuzuka begins, suddenly having a tongue. "You willing to teach me wolf?"

I wonder about that. "Are you talking about the dialect differences? Or…?"

"Whichever you willing to show me. Momma has a point, learning from a Namiki isn't a bad thing for me," he admits. I narrow my eyes, tilting my head slightly. Well, teaching a dog to be a wolf isn't too hard. And their pack mentality makes it pretty easy.

"Wolves don't bark. To us it's a sign of weakness. At most you get whines and grumbling, and that isn't too different with dogs so it wouldn't be too hard for you to pick it up. The mentality difference is the biggest hurdle." I give it to him straight.

"How so?"

"The intelligence factor. And that isn't to insult you," I glare at Haruno who was already covering her mouth to giggle. "It's a fact. Dogs stop growing mentally at six months. Wolves stop at three years. Wolfs also have a larger skull to fit in the larger brain, so there's nothing wrong with accepting where that leaves the difference between the two."

"Hmm, yeah that makes sense," he agrees, shrugging to show he doesn't care. "That's why we cross breed with wolves, to offer our ninja hounds the best of both worlds."

I shrug, unsure how to take that. "Namikis take that difference to heart. You see, the alpha in a wolf pack isn't just the strongest, it's who that chooses which prey to hunt, who guards the pack, who guides the pack. And it's who fathers the pack. Wolf alphas are the wisest, the most experienced. And the alpha she-wolf is the mother of the pack. She has the pups, she raises the pups. And she mothers everyone. That's why dog packs cannot compare."

"Hmm. Then why is it that wolf pups hate being around dogs?"

"The scent," I drone, glaring at him dully. He laughs and shakes his head. "And… well, the biggest difference is how wolves are with the pups."

"You mean… raising pups?"

"Yeah. In a wolf pack, every pup is the wolf's pup. Everyone's responsible, everyone pitches in. That way the alpha can focus on the pack, and the alpha she-wolf can comfortably go into heat every year to keep the wolf pack strong. Dogs don't raise someone else's pup."

"Yeah… that's true," he mumbles, his eyes out of focus, obviously in thought. "So that's why you took the pup, huh. Instincts won't let you cast her aside."

"Nn," I noise, rubbing between her ear and the side of her neck to help keep her calm with all the strange scents.

"That's pretty cool. So what, I'm a pup, too?" Uzumaki starts trouble, elbowing my side just to rile me up.

"Yes. You are," I admit. The room descends into an uncomfortable silence, but Uzumaki is grinning like he won the lottery. "Don't act like you haven't figured that out."

"More curious if you'd admit it, momma-wolf," he teases, laying his head in my lap. A dry laugh jumps up from my throat, unsure what to make of the idiot. Still I run my fingers through his hair all the same.

The pup soon decides she likes this new addition, so she jumps on him, clumsily tumbling down his chest and onto his tummy. She paws around, going in three circles, before plopping onto him and zoning out. A smile tugs at my lips, glad she feels safe with Uzumaki.

"So, what's it take to be pack?" Inuzuka asks, his eyes on the table in front of me. What's it take for me to accept someone as part of me?

"I don't know," I murmur, scratching Uzumaki's scalp. "Uzumaki was always pack. Hyuuga was," Hyuuga-san's eyes go wide, "not you, another Hyuuga. Anyways, she was always pack. Sensei was… I dunno. I remember her a little, but… mostly her scent."

"Hmm," Inuzuka mulls that over. His eyes shift to my left arm, his lips curling down slightly. "And I guess you being injured ain't helpin' you much either."

"Nn. I thought I was going to lose it the other night," I admit, grimacing. He makes a face, not liking it any more than I did.

"That's fair. So how about we deal with this your way, Aya. You're a wolf. You need pack around you to keep you sane. How about you not maul me, and we see if I can howl with your pack some time," he offers. Hmm? "Besides. Akamaru's been bugging me to play with your pup when she's healed up a bit."

"That's not a good idea," I raise my left hand to tell him to slow the hell down. "She won't be able to live here. She can't stay in a village. She needs to be with her own kind."

"I know, but—"

"But nothing. The second she's cleared, I need to bring her to a pack that will take her. Otherwise she'll…." I trail off, unwilling to put it into words.

"She'll be socially stunted, like you," he finishes for me. The others narrow their eyes, slowly starting to understand the puzzle that is me. "I know that, Namiki. But you ain't getting it. She'll never run with a pack. They'll kick her out."

"That isn't up to me to decide. If your sister says she's healthy enough to go back, she's going back," I insist. "The younger she is when that happens, the healthier for her."

"That's fair."

"So you just don't know how to act towards us?" Yamanaka gets on the scent. I roll my eyes, looking back down at Uzumaki. "No. You do. You've done nothing but observe us. You know exactly."

"Don't go there, Ino. Airheads like you don't gotta chance," Inuzuka hits the nail on the head. With how they whine and carry on about Uchiha? I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.

"Why not? I'm smart enough!"

"Books don't mean nothin'," he barks out. I smirk. He's half right, I'll give him that. "We're warriors first. Hell, look at my sister. She's the best medic in my clan. But she'd still knock your teeth in if you try somethin'."

"How about Aya-ch—" I growl at Haruno, hating that she calls me so familiarly. "S-sorry. How about you leave Namiki-san decide that for herself." She's far less confident with the second try, but she still gets her words out. Idiot.

"True. So, Aya-chan. What's the deal?" Yamanaka tries. I glance at her, raising an eyebrow. "You know what I mean. What about me makes you doubt I'm a worthy packmate."

"Your diet. Your focus on beauty over practicality. Your lack of dedication to your training. Your inability to accept Uchiha isn't into you. I dunno, Yamanaka. Pick one." All the guys start laughing at her, then turn on Haruno and laugh at her for being in the same boat.

"What about Hinata? What's your issue with her?" Nara-san asks, his eyes on me to see if I'm lying.

"I don't know her," I drone, shrugging.

"That's fair. So what's your issue with me?" Nara-san presses. I roll my eyes, offering a lopsided grin and a raised eyebrow; _are you sure you want to know?_ "I wouldn't ask otherwise."

I sigh. "You're meant to be alpha of your clan, but you refuse to train to become strong enough," I offer, shrugging and offering a lazy wave; _there you have it_. He raises an eyebrow, wondering what I'm getting at. "You heard me, Nara-san. When your clan comes to you for aid, it'll be your job to help. As you are, you won't."

"Alright. Say I change that. Would you see me as an alpha?"

"I don't deal with what-ifs. You aren't, so you aren't. Change that, show me, and we'll see."

"A-ah, N-Namiki-s-san?"

What is this? Fucking happy hour?! I don't even glance at her to acknowledge she spoke. "Now if you people a—"

"Aya. Cut that shit out. You may be pack, but she's my hunting pack. Respect that," Inuzuka barks out, a slight growl to his tone.

"I-i-it's f-f-fine," she stutters out, her voice almost too small to come from someone larger than me.

I narrow my eyes. Inuzuka isn't playing alpha towards me, he's warning me that he won't tolerate me disrespecting who he sees as higher in the pecking order than me. Hmm. Intersting. Alright, Inuzuka. You've earned enough respect for this, "What'd you want to ask, Hyuuga-san?"

She flushes, her eyes wide with shock as she tries shovelling out broken words barely half formed through lips numb with shock.

"Hyuuga-san. Stop," I hold out my left hand, palm facing her, "breathe," I take a deep breath as well, to show her I'm working with her, not ordering her around, "and first calm your nerves. Take a moment if you need it, we'll wait."

She nods, taking a few deep breaths as she collects her words and soothes her clearly frayed nerves.

"I… was wondering if… if maybe we could… t-train t-together?" she manages, almost entirely without a stutter.

"You're not ready to train how I train. And I'm not ready to touch you to show you why," I explain. She deflates, tears welling up in her eyes and ready to fall. "I'm not calling you weak, Hyuuga. I'm telling you you're too soft-hearted. I go for the throat every time."

"Tch, yeah, I'd believe that. I heard what you did you what's-his-face," Inuzuka barks out, chuckling at the thought. "That's fair, though. You willing to consider hanging out with her?"

Uzumaki tenses. I look at Hyuuga-san, mostly because that allows me to see what Uzumaki is doing. His eyes flick towards her and he nods. Oh? This is the one? This is the girl he felt torn over?

"Hyuuga, eyes," I demand. Her face loses what little colour she has, but she activates her Byakugan all the same. I hold up my left hand, letting her see my injuries. "This is what I'm willing to endure," I draw a heart on Uzumaki's chest, "for the sake of my pack. When you," I point to her with my right hand under the table, "are ready to love someone like that," I lay my right hand on Uzumaki's head, idly combing my fingers through his hair, "then we'll talk."

She turns a deep crimson, showing me she got my message loud and clear. The things I do for you, Uzumaki.

"I-I…" she takes a deep breath, deactivating her eyes. Another few deep breaths follow. "I understand, Namiki-san."

"S—"

"I have an appointment, Yamanaka. One that will not wait," I cut her off.

"I can come with you," she insists. I stand, shaking my head to Uzumaki when he offers me the pup. She's safe where she is, so it's fine.

"Come along, Uzumaki. We need to go." I give him a moment to get up, helping him as best I can so he doesn't drop the pup—mostly just offering him a hand to stabilise him. The zombie sisters make to stand as well. Yamanaka begs with her eyes, pleading her case without a single word.

"Stay with Inuzuka," I drone. I doubt she will, but i _f_ she's at the Inuzuka home when I get there, then I'll consider her puppy eyes.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

With another draining, pointless session behind me, I leave Kitou's office. I don't close the door, afraid I'll slam it so hard I'll break something on myself. Only this time, I'm met by a small group of people.

The zombie sisters look to me expectantly, almost if to wordlessly ask how it went. How many words have I offered them since we've met? Uzumaki is here as well, almost bouncing from the pent up energy in him. The pup hiding between his feet is far less energetic, her eyes drooping and she's mutely whimpering—I'd explained her that I'm taking her to Inuzuka for a checkup.

Sensei, however, strolls right up to me, her eyes swimming with concern. "How'd it go, sweetie?" I walk around her, not in the mood to talk or to be touched or to admit anyone that breathes still exists.

I scoop up the pup, knowing that if ever she's tempted to run away, this is it. She pushes herself up, her paws on my chest as she stretches up and licks my face; _I know what you're doing, please love me enough not to_. Scratching behind her ear doesn't set her at ease either.

This is life, pup. You sometimes have to do things when you'd rather chew on stones.

Without any reverence or marching band to mark the occasion—I get the impression sensei might be tempted, given how consistently invasive she's been—we head out. I don't say a word, to anyone. I just walk, leading the p… leading the group to Inuzuka's. I make a mental not of needing to head to the market after this—with more mouths in my den, I need to bring home more food.

A chocolate craving hits me, so I duck into a convenience store and pick some up. Three large bars, to be exact. Suju's pure chocolate.

So, with pup in one hand, chocolate to keep me from flipping the hell out on people in the other, and a group that honestly makes me wonder if I'm not getting soft by letting them follow me all over the damn place, I make the long, slow, annoying as all fucking hell journey to Inuzuka's.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"I don't care what you have to say about it, Kiba!" Yamanaka's voice carries well through the closed front door. "Even if you understand everything about her heritage, that just means you know how her family would act in the situation. That doesn't mean you understand anything about _her_!"

Namiki Aya. Centrepiece. Discussion topic extraordinaire. And the wolf that cried human, though no one ever believed her.

"Oh, yeah! Then why don't you enlighten me?"

"Forget it! She'd never forgive me if I—" Already tired of the constant ploys to get in my good graces, I open the door without knocking and walk right in like I own the place. I sniff, locating the one I need, following her scent through a door, and into a clinic that's attached to the house.

I find Inuzuka waiting for me, the air of concern about her telling me she isn't too happy with the situation. She motions for me to follow her, leading me into an examination room where she taps a table, obviously meaning for the pup to be lain on that.

I shake my head, understanding all too well why the pup was going nuts here. They understand nothing about wolves.

The pup looks at me, whimpering to show she doesn't want to go. "I didn't bring you here to leave you, pup. She needs to look at you," I explain, but the begging in her eyes doesn't lessen. "You want me to go first?" The begging only intensifies. I shrug, putting her on the table.

"Sit, and don't move," I demand. She's close enough to feel my warmth, and my right hand is wrapped around her front for extra comfort, so she doesn't mind listening this time. I offer Inuzuka my left hand, not looking at her—refusing to face the shock that will no doubt be there.

It takes a few minutes, but my finger 'casts' are removed and I soon feel her warmth as she scans my injured digits.

Everything is going just fine, until at last words are spoken: "This is going to hurt." I grit my teeth, closing my eyes as I meditate to block out the world. It starts with a gentle tingling sensation, which I try to block out, but can't. Then comes a warmth, like I dipped my fingers into the water while I'm soaking.

When the pain kicks in, my jaws clench together so tight I fear I'll break my teeth. At first, it's only a itching kind of pain, but it quickly grows into a kicked-in-the-teeth kind of pain, then a stabbing pain, then—as if it wasn't already bad enough—it feels like all my nerve-endings are on fire and my brains are turning to goo.

I make no sound. I offer no sign of the torment I'm in. Even though it feels worse than the original injury, even though I can't seem to block any of it out, the pup needs to see that Inuzuka is here to help—if anything, I'll kick her ass later.

"Wow, you must **really** love that pup," I hear, though I offer no sign I listen. A deep, shuddering breath sucks much-needed oxygen into my lungs. My knees threaten to buckle, but I lock them in place. The pup needs to not fear her, if only for check-ups. And me acting like a little pussy won't help her.

"I was able to accelerate the healing quite a bit. You still won't be able to use your left hand for another week, but it's better than the month it otherwise would have been." I nod a few times, swearing to myself that I'm going to break her fucking face in the second the opportunity presents itself. "You'll need considerably more calcium and magnesium in your diet for the next few weeks. And you don't get in enough protein, you need to work on that."

Whatever. "S-see pup? It hurts, but she helped me to get a little better," I assure her. She whimpers, but saunters over my hand to present her injured side to Inuzuka all the same.

I start scratching behind her ear, trying to ease her tension as best I can. "Come on, pup. Lay down. She needs to see." She whimpers a little, but she lays down all the same. With a nod, Inuzuka gets down to it.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I'm scratching the pup's ear and under her chin and trying all I can to thank her for trusting me enough to go through with that. Inuzuka put her through a battery of tests, checking everything she could while the pup is willing to cooperate—no different than with me.

"Alright, thank you," Inuzuka murmurs, her brow furrowed as she takes up a chart and starts marking down her findings. For some reason. It's not like the pup'll be a regular patient, so why does she need a chart?

The pup looks up at me, pitifully whimpering as if to blame me for talking her into that. I laugh a little, shaking my head—I know exactly how she feels.

"Guess what, little one? You've earned yourself a nice, juicy stake. Rabbit, deer, and T-bone. How does that sound?" I offer, meaning every word. We both need something to make this day suck less.

"Aya-chan? I need to discuss her case with you," Inuzuka gets my attention, laying the chart on the table for me to read. I go over the details quickly—femur healed wrong, three nails on her left hind leg missing entirely, damaged kidney, cyst on large intestine, smoke lining the lungs, and a persisting infection that's complicating her situation further.

"She'll never be well enough to go back to the wild," I drone, not needing to be told the obvious.

"Exactly," she agrees. "She'll need to be on antibiotics for ten days. After that, I'll need to assess the damage to her kidney before we can talk about operating on her leg. The cyst is benign, so that's a blessing, but I'll need to monitor it. I don't know how she breathed in smoke, but it's messing with her oxygen absorption. That's going to wreak all kinds of havoc when she heals up a bit."

She keeps going over more and more reasons why the pup will never run with the pack, why she'll never be able to hunt for her own food. No partner will ever take her, she'd be too weak to birth healthy pups. All she'll ever be able to do is mind the pups while the others hunt.

"Alright," I murmur, turning my full attention to the pup. "So you'll never be the wolf you should have been. Are you okay with that?"

"Aya!"

"This is wolf business, Inuzuka. Stay out of it," I snipe, my gaze not leaving the pup's. "It's your call, pup."

She whimpers, lumbering over to my left hand and licking the three fingers bandaged up again. "I know that. I'm not saying I'm going to abandon you. I'm saying you should choose for yourself if this is the life you wish to lead."

She whimpers and whines, looking at me as pitifully as she can. I take out a kunai, laying it on the table away from her. "You will never be a strong hunter, pup. You might never find a mate. Having pups could be impossible for you. But if you want," I lay my left hand slightly away from her, but closer than the kunai, "I'll be your alpha. I'll take care of you. I'll hunt for you. But you need to choose."

She doesn't even think about it, so comes straight to me. She lays her paw on my tummy, whimpering and giving me the puppy eyes again.

Even as the tears stream down my face, I find myself laughing. I feel horrible for her, but I'm glad she trusts me to take care of her.

"Alright," I murmur, stowing my kunai. "Then you'll need a name. And we're getting you a proper pillow to sleep on. You like hogging the bed to yourself, little lady. That's not going to work if you're going to be part of the pack." She jumps up into my embrace, licking my face almost franticly.

She even licks my tears.

"You know what?" I murmur, scratching behind her ear again to calm her down. She tilts her head to one side; _what?_ "They stuck me in a dress, so I'm dragging you down with me. I'm calling you Lady."

Inuzuka starts laughing, obviously enjoying the free entertainment. Eventually she writes out two prescriptions—one for Lady, one for me. She hands both to me along with three scrolls she digs out of a drawer.

She explains this and that, which all gets filed away for later, before making a new appointment in two weeks. I sigh, but don't complain. And look at a fucking coincidence—she plans it on the same day as my new appointment with Kitou. Wow. Assholes.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 7_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Alright. I need to focus on another story for a bit. The next chapter may take a few days. Sorry about that.  
_**


	8. Four Walls

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 8 – Four Walls**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Days slip by.

Before I know it, a week comes and goes.

Then two.

Then nerves start to kick in. Hyuuga should be home any day now.

I've been bugging sensei, but there's been no news on that front—not that sensei's in Anbu to know much of anything. Then again, she and Nara-sama seem almost frantic with my 'education' and my 'security' these days. I don't understand, and I don't plan on asking.

I have my appointments with Kitou and Inuzuka tomorrow. Once again coincidentally on my off day. On my _you-so-pretty_ day.

Nara-sensei has been pushing more and more for me to play make nice with the others. Fuck the others. I have enough people manipulating me now, I don't need to add to the fucking list.

So tonight, just like every other night, I find myself sitting on the windowsill in my bedroom, studying the scents roaming about my den. A den that should make me feel right at home.

A den where Nara-sama and Nara-sensei have very carefully been trying to increase and exert their power over me. The zombie sisters are supposedly going on a mission tomorrow, so the four of them requested that another pair of guards be allowed in.

They forget, however, that I've yet to sign off on that adoption. They have no actual power over me, only influence. And this leads me to my current dilemma:

Two Sarutobis standing guard outside my gate. A familiar Yamanaka camping in the tree not two metres away from them. And my phone ringing every minute for the last hour—though every time I pick it up, all I hear is laboured breathing.

Now, it's quite possible that someone wishes to get under my skin. It's quite possible that there have been incidents that I am blissfully unaware of. But whatever the case may be, _they_ are well connected. After all. I've tried calling Nara-sensei to explain the situation, unwilling to leave my house at the moment, only for that call to be rerouted to the same person, the same laboured breathing.

The crux of the dilemma then becomes the source of this issue. Are the Naras trying to scare me into giving them more power over me? Is a third party doing all they can to drive a wedge between us?

Let's see. What is known about this mission the zombie sisters are being sent on? Not much, really. At least, they haven't told me much, only that they'll be gone for a month, give or take. That two Naras—sisters to boot—are being sent on the same mission makes me uneasy.

Very uneasy.

I might not trust the sisters, but that doesn't mean I want something to happen to them. And given how they were fidgeting during dinner, I can guess they don't trust this much either.

This needs to be handled. And now.

Nodding to myself, I go downstairs, finding the zombie sisters sitting to the low table with their kunai and shuriken lain out before them. Instead of acknowledging them, I walk over to the hidden cache.

"Uzumaki. Unplug the phone and put water to boil," I order, pressing the hidden seal to activate the opening mechanism. We're going to need a lot of tea, coffee, and/or ramen to keep us going with the harebrained scheme rolling through my skull.

"You got it!" Uzumaki announces, his thumping footsteps already heading off to see to that.

"Nara. What blades are you most comfortable using?" I feel their eyes on me, so I open the door fully and let them peer into the cache instead. "Long or short. Straight or curved. Forward- or reverse-edged. Serrated or smooth. Or are you more for blunt weapons?"

I look to the sisters, wondering at the wide eyes and hanging jaws looking back at me.

"I… I'm m-more of a t-trapper," the elder of the pair admits, blinking to try to make sense of me.

"Meaning?"

"W-well? That I'm more for ninja wire and small projectiles, I guess," she manages, shaking her head to wake herself up from this odd dream. With a nod, I head into the cache, grabbing four spools of ninja wire, two canisters with sowing needs, a pouch with senbon needles as long as my forearm, and a few prepared canisters containing caltrops.

I bring the haul over to her, setting them down on the table beside her. Then a thought hits me. **I** shouldn't use the poisons Hyuuga gave me, but she said nothing about giving it to another. So I go back into the cache and fish out two vials of poison—one slow-acting and nonlethal, the other can kill an ox within minutes. I give her the vials, explaining which is which and that I don't have the antidotes, so she either needs to get that herself, or she needs to be supremely paranoid with it.

And why would Hyuuga even give me such a potent poison in the first place? Isn't that reckless endangerment? Whatever.

"And you?" I focus on the younger sister.

"I… prefer twin kodachis, but my last pair was broken and I haven't replaced them yet."

"Chakra conducting?" I ask. Her eyes widen instantly. "Yes or no, and if yes which elements?"

"A-ah… n-no, they weren't but…" She looks almost hopeful.

"So yes, which elements?"

"I've… only ever worked with… Yin release," she explains hesitantly.

"Then it won't matter," I murmur, going through the cache. Mama always marked the blades, so… let's see. Shorter blades are to the front, curved are placed on higher shelves. I grab the little stepladder mama left in here just for this purpose—she always used to demand I help her clean the caches and study her system of putting the weapons away, I appreciate her so much more for it. Alright. Kodachis. Hmm… red, blue, yellow… white!

Chakra conducting kodachis. Now just to find a twinned pair… There! I grab two pairs of twins, carefully stepping back down and shoving the stepladder back into its corner. I bring all four blades and set them down on the table for her.

"Two to wield. Two for spares. I don't care if they get broken, and I don't care if you keep them. Just come back alive," I demand. The pair of them share a look, before swearing to me that they will.

Then another thought hits me. The jutsu library. I remember there being sensory jutsus in there from the Namiki family. I… I'm tempted to…

Fuck it. I close the cache, heading out into the hallway and down towards the visitors' sitting room. Right across the hall is mama's old office, so I head into there, then into the corner where I press another hidden seal. The door opens without an issue.

I enter the hidden library, looking around for the light switch. This place is creepy enough with light, but it's downright eerie without. There a three rows of shelves, each roughly four metres long. Sprawled over each shelf are scrolls and books of all sizes. White, brown, yellow, and red.

Alright, think. Brown were the Namiki scrolls. They had markings to categorize them. One was… Earth release jutsu. Two was Fire release jutsu. Three was Wolf-related jutsu and or knowledge. Four was… yes! Brown scrolls with a four wee sensory jutsus. Okay!

I stroll down on row, looking for the required types. I find one, opening it. Enhanced hearing. Might be useful. I keep that. I keep going, finding another. Night vision. Okay, keeping that.

Going into the next row, I find another two. Smell and… chakra sensing? Okay, I'm keeping that one secret. The others are fairly easy to research and produce without needing the Namiki library for it. So with three scrolls in hand, I exit the hidden library, closing the door behind me.

I can't make them stronger overnight. But I can make sure they have the tools and a few enhanced senses to give them a hell of a fighting chance.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Having made it to sensei's home, Uzumaki bangs on the door, per the norm. He's a bit irritable today, but I think that has to do with me and the zombie sisters having learned all three sensory jutsus last night, while he's still struggling to figure out the sense of smell one. I've been telling him that his chakra control needs work, but he just won't listen to reason.

"Sorry for taking so long," comes the usual bullshit. Still the door swings open, revealing sensei in a housedress and apron. "Good morning, everyone. My, sweetie, you look lovely today."

"Sensei…" I trail off, shaking my head in dismay. She picked this dress, too! And every time she says the exact same thing! "Whatever. Good morning," I grumble walking in without another word.

"Say good morning, Lady," I remind her. She whines a little, but she sits in front of sensei before trotting along behind me once again. It was the only signal we could agree on. We both refuse for her to bark, and sensei won't understand wolf dialect. Oh well.

"M-Misato-chan? You're…?" Sensei no doubt noticed the kodachi grips sticking out of the girl's hips. I smirk, glad I blew her mind with that.

"Y-yeah. Aya-chan gave them to me."

Completely ignoring them, I walk over to the table, finding Nara-sama, Nara-san, Yamanaka, and Chouji-san. I wave, tuck the hem of my dress, and sit between Nara-sama and Nara-san, per the norm these days. Lady whines her greeting, sidling up beside me.

"Okay… Aya-chan. I've been getting used to you dressing differently," Yamanaka begins. She blinks, seemingly wondering if she's just more tired than she thought. "But a pink kimono-styled dress with yellow and blue butterflies?"

"Something wrong with pink?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. She sputters, obviously not having seeing that coming. "Or maybe with the butterflies? Are they out of season?"

"You know that's not what I mean," she gripes, rolling her eyes. "What's the occasion?"

"Occasion?" I ask, confused. "We didn't forget anything, did we, Lady?" Lady knows this tactic well enough. She shakes her head, no, making her usual grumbles about nothing special being in her agenda for the day. Then she starts laughing and covers her snout with her paw. She's growing a little too accustomed to my insanity.

"So anyway, we're just planning on hanging out in the back yard. Feel like joining us?" Yamanaka asks, for the hundredth time. I offer a tight little smile, but don't comment. "Aw, come on, Aya! What's it gonna take for us to hang out?"

"Ino, we've been over this," Nara-sama butts in. Blondie pipes down, but I can see she isn't deterred. Nothing's deterred her thus far.

"Uncle, you said not to **push** her. I am _asking_ her," she defends. I snort, shaking my head. I guess only Nara-sama and sensei feel privileged enough to get pushy with me. Or maybe because they've somehow found a delicate balance of how far they can push, and when they just need to come out and say what the deal is.

At any rate, I'm not in the mood. I'm too… No, Aya, don't do this to yourself. She'll come home. They'll come home. Everyone will be fine.

"What about us meeting up for lunch, then? I mean, we had a blast last time, right?" Last time? I don't remember, Yamanaka. I sigh, hating how absolutely dogged people have become. I mean, really. I don't attack them—verbally or otherwise—for calling me in such a familiar fashion, and now everyone and their neighbour's dog thinks that means I'm just itching for their love and attention!

What the actual fuck!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I walk, Lady grumbling at my side for how invasive and utterly out of place that piece of shit Kitou was this time. I open the door, moving as slow and steady as I can so I don't rip the fucking thing off its hinges and fling it across the room at that piece of shit secretary that will no doubt already have a new appointment set for two weeks and a day from now, at the same time.

I don't acknowledge her, I just take the fucking card and walk. Sensei tries to say something, but I don't listen to a word of it. Just walk, just walking.

 _"Your attachment to Hyuuga Hitomi is becoming quite disturbing. Haven't you learned from your mother's death? That getting this close to people in Anbu does not end well for you?"_

I shake off those words once again, heading straight for the Tower. Sensei starts asking what's wrong, but I don't answer her. I just make sure Uzumaki and Lady are following close by. If I'm right, the next attempt will be today. And I'm damn well going to make sure I fuck that Kitou over so hard that his great-grandchildren will still have tender assholes.

Instead of going towards Hokage-dono's office, I head straight for T&I. I know Yamanaka is going to be there. In the distance, I see the secretary, the desk. I smell no one around me. The last few strides I feel the hairs on my neck standing up.

I sniff, smelling no one around me.

So. It's already begun.

I do the genjutsu release as subtly as I can, sniffing and finding sensei, Uzumaki, Lady, and six scents I don't recognize. "Sensei?"

"Everything okay, sweetie?"

"Genjutsu release. Now," I order. Without warning, a blur flashes in front of me. I unsheathe my tantos, already swinging for the blur's legs.

The clang of blade against blade slams into me from all sides. The woman standing in front of me blocked my attacks with kunais. I look up at her, seeing light brown, pupilless eyes staring down at me. Dishevelled purple hair kept in a sloppy ponytail. The cocky smirk tells me she thinks she can take me.

Her tan-coloured, knee-length trench coat is kept unbuttoned and partially open. I see her dark orange miniskirt and the mesh wire armoured shirt. Nothing else. In fact, if she leans in just a little more, I'm sure I'll see her nipples.

"I'm not in the mood," I grind out, bottling up the rage roiling within me. "So unless you feel like spending the night in the hospital, I suggest you fuck off."

"Che," she snorts, her eyes twinkling with barely contained joy. Is she a few cards short of a deck? "The last person that said shit like that to me ended up having a bed right next to mine in ICU."

"That's nice. Three seconds," I drone, uncaring. I start to mould my chakra, focusing it into my voice box. Two seconds.

"I thought it was you," Yamanaka announces his arrival. The frown on his face says more than this situation troubles him. "What happened?"

"I identified _their_ latest agent. He tried to use his status as my physician to turn me against Hyuuga," I drone, wondering at the pain suddenly in lady-psycho's eyes. "I'm here to offer you the proof you need to arrest his ass. And if you refuse, I will—"

"You know better, Aya-chan," he cuts me off. This woman is still not fucking standing down. Fine.

I start to growl, drowning the sound in the genjutsu sequence. Her eyes lose focus, snap into focus, only to lose focus and snap back again over and over. To dispel the genjutsu so quickly, so consistently. She's good. But not good enough.

I kick behind her knee, dropping her. Her kunai don't ease the power keeping my tantos at bay. If I ease the pressure even slightly from my side, my blades are pushed back.

Fine.

I shift my hips, kicking the woman right in her eyes. She flies back, landing ungracefully against the secretary's desk. Her arms wrap around her, her kunai stabbing the desk at either side of her neck.

Ending the jutsu, I sheathe my tantos and slap Uzumaki to wake him the hell up. His eyes snap into focus, tears welling up. Seeing as I don't want Uzumaki or Lady to see anything bad, I made sure to use that pleasant genjutsu. Still, he's being more basket case than usual.

"The fuck?!" the woman demands, her eyes widening in shock—that she can even see with the power I put behind that kick attests to her resilience as a kunoichi.

What's there to be surprised about, though? I warned her, she didn't listen, I kicked her in the face. The most predictable series of events.

"Let's get this over with," I drone, setting my foot back onto the floor. I enjoy that kunoichi's flabbergasted, what-the-fuck-just-happened look for another moment, before following Yamanaka into a private room. "Recent memory. Just came from the consultation. Check that memory and only that memory. Try anything and I kick you the fuck out, evidence or no. Understood?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 _"So you're into girls. And you know Hyuuga-san is as well," Kitou starts the session on a weird note. He's been getting more and more unorthodox in his approach. I'd better be careful with him. "What are the odds of her taking advantage of you, do you think?"_

 _…_

 _"There are only a handful of people in your life, Namiki-san. Of those you've mentioned, I can imagine none of them not trying to take advantage of you. Nara Yoshino shows signs of narcissistic personality disorder, and may well be using you too inflate her warped view of self-importance."_

 _…_

 _"Nara Shikaku shows signs of sexual interest, and yet you do no curb his advances in any way. You are inviting that attention just because you crave a father's love, heedless if he will use that to his advantage or not. Should anything happen, it will be because of your own recklessness."_

 _…_

 _"Your near obsessive compulsive focus on Uzumaki Naruto and his training worries me. You've barely let the boy out of your sight, and if you do it's only because one Hatake Kakashi is with him. This compulsive behaviour is dangerous for a kunoichi and it forces me to question your ability to cope with the life of a shinobi in Konoha."_

 _…_

 _"Hokage-sama will have a report of this session within the hour. I promise, as soon as you show signs of improvement, I will green light your return to active duty. For now, you need to be selfish and get the much needed help you've been denying yourself. I'm referring you to a colleague of mine, Yamanaka Fuu. He's specialised in cases like yours, and he will ensure you are given the care you need."_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 _Sigh._

I glare dully at Hokage-dono, wondering why I need to be here for this. Yamanaka is giving his report verbally, requesting that Kitou be brought in for questioning. Nara-sama and sensei are doing what they can to keep close to me, but I keep slapping away their hand when they try to touch me.

I did my part. So why the fuck do I need to be here?

"I see. Very well, Inoichi. Bring him in for questioning. Anko is not permitted to go near him. Either you or Ibiki will interrogate him. No physical force is permitted at this time," comes the order. With that, Yamanaka is off.

Weathered, beady eyes focus on me. "Genin Namiki, report."

"Yamanaka has my full report. He mindwalked me. I have nothing to add," I drone, slapping sensei's hand to thwart her latest attempt to calm me down. Lady whines in complaint. I look to see her yawning. I scoop her up, letting her fall asleep in my arms. Poor thing has had quite the morning. "If there's nothing else?"

"There is, Aya. This is getting out of hand. If the situation is as Inoichi reports, that means—"

"If there is nothing else," I cut in, uninterested in his suppositions and crackpot theories.

"Aya, sweetie?" sensei calls to me, squatting down and looking up at me. She grabs me, holding onto me no matter that I try to shove her arms away or that I try to squirm out of her grip. "Baby. I need you to talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

I gaze at her, silent as the grave. Kitou was playing me, I know that. That doesn't mean I should discard his words entirely. The best lies have a kernel of truth. The this kernel struck a nerve, whether I think he's—

"Aya. I know you're scared. I know you'll use anything you can to—"

"If. There's. Nothing. Else?" I grind out. Meeting her worried gaze with a blank mask. I'm not getting involved in this bullshit. Not today. I've tolerated quite enough bullshit in recent history.

"What did he say about me?" she presses, not backing off even slightly. She begs with her eyes, with the silent tears streaming down her cheeks, for me to open up to her, to trust her. Trust is earned, not bartered or demanded or engineered. I respect you, but that isn't the same thing.

"Sweetie, think. You know what he was trying to do. You know he wants you to be isolated. Why are you letting him get to you?" _You think I don't know that?! You think I haven't taken that into consideration?!_

I screw my eyes shut, refusing to shed a tear for this shit. This isn't my problem I don't need to fix this.

"Aya?" Nara-sama begins. He pets my head, mussing my hair a little. I turn to him, my eyes flicking open to see what he wants. "We're here for you. We'll continue being here for you. Even if you don't trust us completely, trust us enough to know we'd never hurt you."

I look away, unwilling to face either of them. I do all I can to ignore the heartache obvious in her eyes, and the pained acceptance in his. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah. We need to take Lady to her appointment after all," sensei tries, sounding as upbeat as she can. Hearing he sound so defeated… hearing her sound so downtrodden…

I… I'm sorry, sensei…

 _8-8_

* * *

 _"…because you crave a father's love…"_

Those words. Kitou's words just won't leave me alone. Even as I enter the veterinary clinic, even as I help Lady onto the table for her check-up. Even as I pet and scratch her to keep her calm so Inuzuka can work.

 _"Should anything happen, it will be because of your own recklessness."_

Even as Inuzuka starts explaining Lady's situation, explaining how her system is too weak to operate just yet, that we'll need to start her on a supplements to build her up first.

 _"What are the odds of her taking advantage of you, do you think?"_

Hyuuga's many things, but she's not going to take advantage of me. Even though she was back in my life for two days, she did everything she could to take care of me. She did everything she could to help me. So the odds of her taking advantage of me are slim to none.

"Alright. These are the pills she'll need. Give her one in the morning with her breakfast. She should show signs of increased appetite. It's expectable, so don't let that bother you." I nod to show I heard her, making a mental note of it while I'm at it. "Come back in six weeks. That should be enough time for her system to beef up."

"Nn," I noise, nodding. "Come on, Lady. Time for lunch."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Walking along, I find myself in another group. Nara-san and his team. Inuzuka and his team. Uzumaki and his team. And sensei a step behind me. Even though I'm such a bitch to her, she still refuses to let me fall.

Someone made a suggestion that we go to some restaurant, but I'm not sure which one, and I'm doubly unsure if everyone—or anyone, really—agreed it was a good choice. I just know that Lady's been worried about me. And Uzumaki's been nudging me just so I'll look at him and he can smile for me.

Sigh.

…

Wait…

I turn, my eyes widening. There, not five metres away from me. In jounin attire. I sniff—or sniffle, but it's all the same at this point.

It's her. Hyuuga's just standing there, in her usual jounin attire, her pale eyes fixed on me, smiling for me. Just for me.

I fly at her, my arms around her middle as I tackle her. My face is buried in her embrace. Her arms snake around my shoulders, her touch gentle. She smells of trees, of foliage, of the veterinary clinic, and of Hokage-dono's pipe smoke. She was injured, or she wouldn't go see Inuzuka. Something went wrong on her mission, or she would have reported to Anbu HQ—and the stress of the report got Hokage-dono to light up in the middle of the day.

I ask her to confirm nothing—she won't be allowed to say. Instead?

"Y-you're late," I complain, holding her even tighter.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, squeezing me a little. We stay just like this for a long, lo~ooooong moment. Just… just us. I breathe her in, soak up her warmth.

"You're hurt," I murmur.

"Right Forearm and left side." She tenses slightly before she lies—she didn't do that, so she's telling me the truth. That means she'll be on leave for a while. That means she's home for a while. I nod, showing her I understand the implications.

I ease my grip on her, not wanting to hurt her any more than she already is. She squeezes slightly as thanks, her breaths deepening to show just how much my hug was hurting her.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The sounds of communal living surrounds me. Women shaking out laundry as they hang it out to dry. Children running through the streets, shouting and shrieking in surprise as they go. Men in bars calling out this or that, already drunk despite the early hour.

There's also the scent of food being cooked, of fabric softener, of homes being cleaned, of babies being changed.

Life is happening all around me. The only part of which I care to understand is that Hyuuga walks beside me, idly chatting with sensei about this or that. That my arms are wrapped around her left elbow doesn't seem to bother her in the least. That Lady's tumbling along with us, barely a step behind me, mostly amuses her.

She's too happy to be home to care too much about little things.

When we make it to the restaurant, Inuzuka's steps up. "Hey, sorry if this is rude. But is there gonna be a problem with the pups?"

"Not at all, Inuzuka-san! Your clansmen are regular customers. In fact, we have a special menu for canine companions," she assures him. She's a bit on the _robust_ side, her round face seemingly made to smile. "Ah, and Namiki-san as well! I didn't know you took a… wolf pup, right?"

"Nn," I nod. "Say hello, Lady." Lady strolls in front of the waitress, sitting down and grumbling her greetings. She makes sure to thank her for her hospitality as well, bobbing her head just as I would. I'm not sure what to make of that—has she been studying the crap sensei's been teaching me? "She says thank you for your generous hospitality."

"Oh, you're quite welcome, Lady. My, so well behaved. You're a credit to your pack, my dear." What can I do by beam at the compliment? "And what about our Inuzuka pup? What's your name?" She _is_ quite gracious, I'll give her that. I won't mind coming here more often if Lady will be treated like one of the customers.

We're shown in, Inuzuka and Akamaru making some small talk with the waitress as we go. There's a lot of potted plants everywhere, and nothing but low tables. The walls are lacquered wood, lined with the ink wash art and the calligraphy pieces to add to the traditional Japanese atmosphere they have going on.

We're shown into a private booth, with a table big enough to seat our group and then some. We're given menus and she offers tea to start—the usual banter, really. Opening my menu, I realise I have two of them. The normal lunch menu, with pictures and font-size fourteen kanji describing things. The other has no pictures, but scented 'tiles' so they know what they're getting into. And the kanji is easily twice as big so canine eyes can follow it.

"So, Lady. What do you feel like ordering?" I ask, holding her menu open for her and letting her sniff the options as she goes. She sniffs the deer steaks, tapping that one with her paw. "Deer, huh. That's fair."

There's a sudden pressure against the menu. I tilt it out of the way, finding Akamaru sitting on the table with his head tilted to one side and his paw held up to show it was against Lady's menu. "What? You want to come see what you can order?" He stands, barks, and wags his tail to tell me yes. I roll my eyes, wondering why he thinks Lady and him will get along so well. Still, nothing wrong with his request. "Alright. Mind your manners, though. Lady's side still hurts."

He whimpers, letting me know he understands and feels sorry for Lady, slowly making his way around me and up into my lap beside lady. I narrow my eyes, noticing that he approached from her good side.

"Alright, Akamaru. Sniff away so you know your options." He lays his paws against the menu, reaching up to sniff each scent patch. He takes a whiff of each in turn, before switching back and forth between the rabbit and the deer.

"Hmm? Can't make up your mind?" I ask, mostly for confirmation. He whimpers, barking to agree with my words. "Well, how about this. Lady, would you mind trading some of your deer for some of his rabbit? That way you both get some of each?"

Lady whimpers pitifully, obviously not liking the idea. She didn't even show any interest in rabbit meat—she wants deer. "Sorry, Akamaru. Well, you can always discuss with Inuzuka what he wants to do. Maybe you can get some from him."

He barks, thanking me, before licking Lady's snout to show there's no love lost between them. He jumps back up onto the table, scampering back over to Inuzuka.

With that handled, I go over the lunch menu, wondering what I feel like eating.

"You look cute in that," Hyuuga compliments, likely meaning my dress. I blush, but don't comment. "I'll have to ask Yoshino-san how she bribed you to buy that, let alone wear it."

I lower the menu, glaring dully at her as I raise an eyebrow. She smiles, shaking her head in amusement. "So, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"You know Lady, you know Uzumaki. And you can guess the others," I drone.

"Come on, Aya-chan. Am I not worth the effort?" she presses.

Letting loose a drawn out sigh, I close the menu and set it down on the table. "Nara Shikamaru, sensei's son. Yamanaka Ino, Inoichi's daughter. Akimichi Chouji, Chouza's son. They're Team Ten under Sarutobi Asuma. Inuzuka Kiba, Hana's little brother. Akamaru. Aburame Shino, Shibi's son. Hyuuga Hinata you already know. They're Team Eight, under Yuuhi Kurenai. Uchiha. Haruno Sakura, Kizashi and Mebuki's daughter. They and Uzumaki are Team Seven, under Hatake." No one's jaw can fight gravity at that revelation. I don't know why, everyone should know basic information like that.

"Thank you." I roll my eyes, getting back to the menu. "Shikaku-san says you've gotten—" I glare at her, shutting her up quickly.

"What do you feel like eating, Hyuuga?"

"Well…" she peruses the menu, going over her options. I agree, dwelling is pointless.

"So you're like that with everyone," Yamanaka starts trouble. There's murmuring from the whole group, not realising such an obvious fact. "Auntie, would it be okay if you bring Aya-chan to our team training tomorrow? I'm sure Asuma-sensei won't mind."

"You're such a blonde, Ino," Inuzuka grouses. Akamaru chuckles, agreeing with him.

"Don't equate hair colour with intelligence," I get on his case, a slight growl in my tone. It's subtle enough that the others won't notice, but Inuzuka won't miss it.

"Oh, yeah? Well, Na—" I growl far more noticeably this time, warning him not to try anything with Uzumaki. He pipes down, grumbling under his breath. "Whatever."

"Oi, oi, Aya-chan. If you're gonna join Shikamaru's team for training. You should join us as well! It'd be totally awesome, believe it!" I groan, rolling my eyes.

"With you. Yes. With pinkie? No. With Uchiha? Hell no." Haruno and Yamanaka bristle. One would give her left tit to train with Uchiha. The other… meh. I don't really care what her deal is.

"Aw, come on, momma-wolf. Don't be such a sourpuss. It'll be great. We can team up against them. Show them how far we've come in our training," he tries again. Hmm? Could be interesting. Or it could be like watching paint dry. Only time will tell.

"If sensei arranges it with Hatake, it's fine," I drone, wondering how long it'll take Yama—

"So, auntie. You'll bring her tomorrow?" Yamanaka begs. She's predictable. Hmm. I'll see if I can work out that annoying dieting crap she does, and maybe see if I can teach her a few genjutsus to have someone that can challenge me in a spar. She's earned some level of respect, so if she can learn to keep up with me in a fight, I won't mind being nicer to her.

"No," Hyuuga shoots that down. "The day after, maybe. I'm taking her tomorrow. In fact, I want to take her shopping in a bit. There are a few things I want to get her, and we have an appointment with a friend of mine."

I smile, laying my head against Hyuuga's arm. Back in my world less than an hour, and already showing me that she wants to be everything I need and more. I tug her upper arm a little, letting her know to lean in. When she's close enough, I murmur into her ear: "If grabbing my blades is more efficient for you, I don't mind."

She kisses my temple, thanking me without a word.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Entering the den, I start taking off my shinobi sandals. "So I just need to get my gloves?" I ask Hyuuga, wondering what it is she wants to do that involves them.

"Yeah," she agrees, but her tone is a bit far away, as if she's thinking about something. "And if you don't mind, I want to check something in the main cache. There's a weapon I think you would work well with."

"Sure, you remember how to get in, right?" She practically lived here with us, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if she did.

"A-ah… y-yeah," she mutters, embarrassed for some reason.

"Don't get all flustered, Hyuuga. You're pack," I get on her case, waving as I head into the house to go get my gloves.

"Y-you'll… need to bring your…"

"I have everything I need sealed in the scrolls sensei gave me. I'm here because I needed to _go_ ," I lie easily. Well, not completely untrue, of course. I **do** need to _go_. But I'm also here to set a few ground rules with her.

Seeing to my needs quickly, I go into the family sitting room, finding Hyuuga rummaging through the cache. I go to her, wondering what she's looking for. Her focus is on blunt weapons, towards the larger side of the spectrum. What could she possibly want?

"Not here," she complains. "A shame, but not unexpected."

"What are you looking for?" I ask, but she shrugs , obviously not wanting to 'ruin the surprise'. "Fine, fine. You need anything for yourself? I mean, they're just sitting here collecting dust."

"Hmm? I might take you up on that. For now, we need to get going."

"Uh uh," I turn that down. "Sit down. We need to talk first."

She turns, her eyes narrowing slightly, her head shift a little to one side. "About?"

"Sit and you'll find out." I sit to the table, showing her that I'm not joking. Lady lays down beside me, already quite worn out. Hyuuga, however, takes a long moment, just looking at me, trying to figure me out.

She saunters over, nothing in her stance or gait to suggest she's in any pain or discomfort. She sits without a word, her gaze centred on me.

"I'll get straight to the point. I think you're a selfish, heartless shitball for barging into my life and then leaving me high and dry." She baulks, her face pinched from how poignant those words are.

"However, as I said, you are pack. So regardless if you have somewhere else to sleep, you are welcome here. You don't have to ask in advance, you don't have to reserve. When we get back later, I'll assign you a room and a personal weapons cache. Decorate the room as you see fit. Buy any furniture you would like. It's fine with me."

"A-ah… th-thanks." She doesn't know what to make of the emotional rollercoaster, but there's gratitude in her eyes. "I… I'd rather s-stay here."

"More importantly, Hyuuga, we need a working agreement. Sensei is used to Uzumaki and I eating at least breakfast and dinner by her. That means we're used to being there from six in the morning, until roughly six in the evening. If you have other ideas, we can discuss them with sensei in the morning. She knows to expect the discussion, so it's perfectly alright if you want something else to be the case."

She nods slowly, unsure what to make of that just yet. No doubt she'll have more energy to deal with that in a few days, but this way she'll have a few days to think about it.

"I train two days on, one day off. As you can see, sensei demands I dress like 'young lady' on my off days." My gaze turns into a glare, my voice dropping well into cryogenic ranges. "And seeing as that is your damn fault for dragging my ass there in the first damn place, I'm taking you down with me."

Her face loses all colour and her eyes go wide as dinner plates.

"Oh yes, Hyuuga," I drone, enjoying how her chin almost drops into her lap. "Pink and bows and ruffles and dresses. And makeup and body sprays and proper language and etiquette. The whole nine yards. You need to rest for a few days. So on my next day off, I'm taking you shopping. And I'm picking every fucking outfit that you are going to wear without fail. And we're getting you a closet so you can keep those dresses here, where I can check if you've burned them or not. And just like how sensei chooses which dress I wear for my day off, I'm going to choose which dress you're going to wear to commiserate in my cute and fluffy torture."

"F-fine. I guess I'm partly to blame, knowing how Yoshino-san can be," she admits. I raise an eyebrow. "W-was there anything else?" Other than your 'partial' acceptance of your blame in this?

"Yes, but nothing that needs discussing now." I'm willing to give her a week to come down from the mission high. After that, I'll get her up to speed on everything.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 8_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Well, Hitomi's home. And the stage has been set. What say we find out what for...  
_**


	9. Some days…?

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 9 – Some days…?**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Nah, you guys go on ahead," Uzumaki offers, a faraway look in his eyes. "I think I'll stay here. Lady can stay, too!" Lady whines a little, but cuddles up beside Uzumaki.

A sinking feeling hits me all at once. These two opting out could mean they don't want to get dragged into a shopping trip. No, it's probably that. It must be that. Don't make yourself paranoid, Aya.

"Alright. We'll be back for dinner. Don't open the gate for anyone, no matter what is claimed. In fact, ignore the doorbell altogether. And let Lady play in the back yard if she wants to run around." He waves it off, muttering something about know that already.

With no reason not to, Hyuuga and I leave our lazy bones packmates be, and head out. That bad feeling isn't going away though.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Our first stop is in the Clans' District—some house I don't recognize. I know the symbol, though—the Sarutobi clan crest. We follow the cement-looking wall dotted with this symbol, to a checkpoint where two Sarutobis stand guard.

"Ah, Hitomi. She's expecting you," one of the guards greets us. We're waved through, like it's the most normal thing in the world. Nope. I'm not even going to try to understand this.

Hyuuga leads me to the main building of the compound, knocking on the door. It takes but a moment, before I smell someone starts coming our way. A familiar scent, if slightly different. The door swings open, revealing a red-haired, violet-eyed kunoichi wearing a jounin outfit and flak jacket. She's a head taller than me, but she seems to be around my age.

She smells of Uzumaki, and I know for a fact he hasn't seen her to leave his scent on her so dominantly—let alone that he admitted to liking the shy Hyuuga. I narrow my eyes, but choose to say nothing on the matter.

"Sorry for taking so long. Good afternoon, Hitomi-san, Namiki-san. Won't you please come in? I have everything ready for you in the visitors' sitting room," carrot top informs us. I nod, following Hyuuga into the very traditional home. We take off our shinobi sandals, setting them out of the way as neatly as we can, before following our hostess into an elaborately decorated room with a flower arrangement, a hung scroll with the kanji for peace, unity, and family neatly painted onto it—or whatever you call this style of writing with a calligraphy brush.

There's also a low table, with inks and two brushes set to one side. We're asked to have a seat opposite to where those things are set, and she offers us tea and something to snack on. All following a protocol that would have sensei falling apart at the seams if I would do as much.

I turn to Hyuuga, wondering what we're even doing here. She smiles, shaking her head to indirectly tell me I'll have to wait to find out. I sniff, finding that same overwhelming scent, but it's just not something I'm equipped to unfuck.

Soon the kunoichi comes back in, sitting down and serving us our tea and offering us mochi. I study this girl, wondering what swathes of the puzzle I'm missing. Her hands are delicate, no callouses, bruises, or obvious cuts to speak of. Her arms are long, but with a decent muscle to show she trains. Humble bust. Skinny—too skinny for my tastes, she should eat more. She carries herself with a grace that tells me she's been brought up well, educated in, and accustomed to, the life of a noble's daughter.

Her gaze meets mine. She smiles, bobbing her head in a sort of greeting. "Forgive my poor manners, Namiki-san. I am Sarutobi Asami. Hokage-sama's daughter," she offers, lying through her teeth. I detect no deceit, but she is no Sarutobi.

"Namiki Aya," I bob my head, narrowing my eyes slightly.

"A pleasure to meet Uzumaki Naruto's shadow guard at long last," she soothes, smiling warmly. She knows. She wouldn't bring him up otherwise. Oh, Hokage-dono, you _are_ slick. "Now, Hitomi-san. You mentioned needing specialised seals?"

"Yes. Aya-chan, we'll need your gloves," Hyuuga reminds me. I nod, digging into my handbag for my two scrolls. "She needs type three storage seals. They'll need to carry weapons, roughly the size of a tetsubo, just to be safe." A tetsubo? A studded club? Why would I need that? Those things are too heavy for me, and unwieldy to boot.

"That sounds easy enough," Sarutobi murmurs, her gaze flicking to me. She's as curious about me as I am about her. "How many are we talking about?"

"As many as possible. She'll need two on each palm she can activate one-handed. On the back of the palm she'll need seals that can contain two scrolls that also contain seals. On the inner forearms the seals will need to contain multiple of the same item that she can unseal one at a time. On the outer forearms, she'll need more storage. Think camping gear and the like."

"Hmm? Yeah, that makes sense. And pretty simple, all things considered." I'm not sure what to make of this, but I know I'm going to enjoy it all the same. "In fact… I think she'll need a little something extra?"

"Extra?" Hyuuga asks, curious.

"Yeah. A large scroll meant to store corpses for bounty hunting and collection. And another scroll where she can store live prisoners for secure transportation," Sarutobi explains, her gaze on me once again. I smirk. I know a buyoff when I see one. "Say… thirty of each?"

"That's fair," I agree. Alright, Sarutobi. I'll keep my mouth shut.

"I…" she blushes, looking away from me. "I'll double it if you… if you keep me up to date on Naruto?"

"Alright," I agree, bobbing my head.

"If you agree to train her in the sealing arts, she might be tempted to arrange a more… direct method of getting to know him," Hyuuga butts in. I narrow my eyes, glancing at her. But then, it really wouldn't hurt.

"N-nn," she noises, bobbing her head once again. Having finally found the seal I need, I push some chakra into it, unsealing the gloves Hyuuga got me. Black, elbow-length gloves with no fingers. "Alright. You'll need to put them on so I can mark where the seals need to be."

Setting the scroll aside, I roll up my sleeves and slip into my gloves. Sarutobi sets a red marker on the table, to mark where the seals need to be. Life just got interesting.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Walking down an empty street, I feel so much more at ease. Sarutobi made good on her word, so my gloves are dotted with the storage seals. Including the seals that contain the eight scrolls she promised—four containing fifteen seals each for corpses, four containing the same for living prisoners.

And the first place Hyuuga takes me, is to the market, to the stall where I buy my chocolate. She picks up and pays for a hundred bars of Suju's dark chocolate! Then she instructs me to seal them all in my glove, telling me to unseal one so I can pig out.

I… suddenly feel a little lightheaded, but not in a bad way. It's… it feels almost good in a way, but it worries me all the same.

And the little bubbly feeling in my tummy isn't helping much.

"Alright. This will work for rations bars and bottles of water, as well. Just remember to plan for four meals a day for the duration of your mission, then add half more as a buffer," she explains sagely.

She drags me into a shinobi specialty store, taking me straight to the counter and the worker smiling warmly at us. She explains to me that she has a tab here, and goes through the motions of registering me as a regular customer, with her credit line extending to me. She drags me deeper into the store, showing me the rations bars she always takes, explaining why she prefers that brand—something about it not 'backing her up' as much as the others. Then the bottles of water she buys, and why she buys them here and not at a civilian store—something about the security/surveillance these bottles are subjected to, to safeguard the shinobi clientele.

We get camping equipment for me—tent, futon, linens, pillows (she makes a joke about me needing a pillow to sleep on and a pillow to cuddle with).

Then comes the survival equipment—water filter to refill water bottles, special fishing kunai and fishing wire, a detailed map of the Elemental Nations, scent removing-smoke bombs, a special skinning knife, a book on edible flora and fauna (which is categorized by location), a fire-starter set, a specialised medical kit (which includes an impressive array of antidotes, blood plasma pills, splints, medical gauze, antiseptic, iodine, and goodies I've never even heard of), and cooking equipment.

Let's not forget a few hundred rations bars, the same in bottles of water, soldier pills, a collection of spices and herbs in handy little bottles, and a dozen special little bags to pack a few dozen things in and roll up for convenience sake—which, I'm told, will be used to organize my things better.

As if that isn't enough, she takes me to the outfits section, where she picks up a proper raincoat, a kasa hat, like rice farmers wear, a dozen bars of scent-removing soap, and an outfit she wants me to try on—it looks like a jounin uniform, but with the facemask Hatake wears and a hoodie. She even unfolds it, to make sure it's a sleeveless one.

I come out of the changing room, wearing the outfit and wanting to present myself to her. Her eyes travel up and down my body, taking in every part of me. The queasy feeling in my stomach intensifies.

"You have two leg and hip pouches?" she asks, her lingering gaze still drinking in what she sees. I find myself hoping she likes what she sees, but I can't seem to bring myself to get her to confirm that.

"N-nn," I noise with a jerky little nod. Why do I feel so nervous all of a sudden? It's not like Hyuuga won't have girls throwing themselves at her. I mean, Anbu Op, strong, cute, kind, gracious… and a sense of loyalty that I can most definitely appreciate.

"Yes. Good. Alright, we'll get you five sets of this one, and another five slightly thicker for winter," she mutters, obviously thinking aloud.

"D… do you l-like… how it looks on me?" I struggle not to blush, but I'm pretty sure it isn't helping. At all.

"You look cute and professional," she assures me, but that doesn't answer my question. I start running my finger up and down the seam of my pants, getting more and more nervous—unsure if she's avoiding the question altogether. "Come on, we still need to go to the blacksmith after this."

I huff, annoyed with her. Mostly I'm annoyed with myself, though. After all, she probably still sees the five year old me—not the woman I'm growing into.

Whatever.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Right across the street from the outfitter, is the blacksmith she drags me into. I find myself getting more and more irritable, but I can't figure out why. I mean, she's being sweet and caring and attentive, seeing to my every possible need without fail.

 _Sigh_. I just don't have any luck with people.

We pass blades of all kinds as we go, into a section with bo staves, and tonfas, and…

"Alright. We're getting you two new weapons to work with," she informs me. I'm not sure what to make of her offer. I mean, I still haven't even started working on the flute or the battle fans she got me. I have enough going on, and with the stretches I need to do for both hands to build back up my bones and muscles to get used to working with them again, it's not as if I've had much time for anything other than those chakra control exercises.

Unaware of my plight, she grabs a tetsubo. Taller than by my half and covered with little iron bumps meant to fuck up the victim's day—armoured or not.

"Right. That's the weapon. Now, we need to replenish your needles, senbons, kunai, and the poisons you gave those Nara girls. And your ninja wire was running low. Better get that, too," she murmurs, once again thinking aloud, or talking to herself. How'd she know…?

 _Sigh_. Nothing but basket cases in my life.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

With my new things sealed away—she'd demanded my flute, tessen, and tetsubo get stored in the seals on my palms—we head out once again. She has something special in mind this time, though she refuses to admit to what, or much of anything for that matter. Still. I feel fully armed, even with my usual weapons all sealed away. So I don't mind too much.

With her self-appointed duties handled, she leads me towards the Tower. Right up to the third floor. Right up to Hokage-dono's office. She doesn't even knock before she opens the door.

Sensei, Nara-sama, Yamanaka from T&I, the trench coat wearing kunoichi from the other day, and Hatake are here.

"Hyuuga," I grind out in warning. I'm not in the mood to be present for a bullshit meeting where no one is going to fucking listen to me and talk about me like I'm not even here.

"It's alright, Aya-chan. We're only here to listen to the outcome," she supposedly reassures me. Instead of listening to them discuss things, I get to hear only the end result. It isn't a step up.

"Please close the door, sweetie," sensei asks, her eyes asking me to trust her once again. For a group of people that quite often show no reason for me to trust them, I'm asked to trust them anyway too often for this to be healthy.

Once the door is closed, the usual tingling sensation washes over me. I sigh, turning to hear what this group believe is 'for my own good'.

"You're leaving Konoha for a while," sensei's the one to break the news to me. I snort, unamused. "On a training mission. Just you and Hitomi. It's the only thing that we agree makes sense."

"Alright. Then you," I point at Hokage-dono, "need to stop smoking. You," I point at sensei, "need to stop ordering me around. You," I point at Nara-sama, "need to stop being lazy and need to start disciplining your son. You," I point at the still nameless trench coat-wearing kunoichi, "need to stop flaunting what kami-sama gave you to work with. And you," I point at Hatake, "need to stop being hours late to everything and reading porn in public. We all clear on what ain't fucking happening? Good. Now, to the actual point of this meeting?"

Silence ensues. Both uncomfortable and louder than Uzumaki shouting.

"Aya, I th—"

"I've had someone dictating my wardrobe. Someone dictating my schedule. Someone dictating my diet. Someone dictating how much sleep to get. Someone dictating my training. And someone trying to dictate who I should and shouldn't speak to. Now you're all here together, trying to dictate whether or not I'm leaving this village, heedless of my thoughts on the matter," I lay it all out for them in a complete monotone. "And yet, not one of you is willing to accept one order from me?"

"That's what parenting is, Aya," sensei points out, stubbornly standing her ground. And then you wonder why I only called Nara-sama _that_ for that one meeting to buy me the time I need to come up with a plan?

"Ah, yes. And who in this room is my parent?" I look around in mock curiosity. _Shockingly_ , no one responds. "So, after all my bending over backwards to accommodate you. This is what I get? More orders? More bending over backwards?"

"Don't do this," sensei begs. "I don't want you to leave, baby. I—"

"And yet no one feels the need to explain anything?" I cut in. "You have sixty seconds before I decide this meeting is not worth my time."

"Danzo has made his move," she explains. Sort of.

"So? Who the fuck is that? Why does he care about me? What does he want with me? And why is leaving Konoha the only viable option?"

"What's important here, sweetie, is that—"

"Hold. I am not your child," I remind her, unmoved by the tears collecting in her eyes for once. Fuck this manipulation bullshit! Deal with me like I have a fucking brain for once! "I am a kunoichi of Konoha. And if you are giving me a mission, you will give me the mission parameters I need to ensure the mission is fulfilled to the letter."

"A-Aya, p-please stop making this harder than it needs to be."

"Oh? I'm sorry. Hold on, let me hang up my brain and fill my skull with your knowing what's best for me," I drone, glaring at her. "And if you try any of that you're better off not knowing shit…"

She looks away, trying to hide the minute wince. Hmm. So that was the next move, huh?

"Alright. You know what? Cards on the table. I need orders and parameters. Otherwise I assume I'm being banished permanently."

"Baby! We would ne—"

"Look at what the fuck I know!" I bellow. Sensei jerks back, tears streaming down her face. She doesn't even try to wipe them away. "I know I'm leaving. That's. It. How the fuck do you want me to take it? That I'm on a paid vacation? That I'm getting put up in a fucking five star resort?"

No one answers. "Now someone start explaining something!" I demand.

A hand lands on my shoulder. Hyuuga. "It's alright, Aya," she murmurs into my ear, no doubt having leaned in quite a bit to do so. "I'll be by your side, I promise."

"Hy—"

"Please?"

"Why can't I know anything?" I demand, tears of frustration threatening to break free. "You assholes trusted me to keep Uzumaki for years. No one tried fucking helping me, no one bothered to see if either of us were still breathing. And suddenly I can't even be trusted with simple mission pa—"

She turns me to her. Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. "Please, Aya. I need you to trust me."

The urge to rip off my forehead protector and shove it down someone's throat is almost overwhelming. "If there's nothing else?" I drone, reining in my emotions to the point my face becomes a porcelain mask.

"No, Aya-chan. You're dismissed."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Arriving back at the den, Hyuuga starts looking more and more nervous. She brings me into the family sitting room, sits me down, and utters the words that skyrockets my blood pressure instantly:

"I'm not allowed to say anything about the mission. For reasons I am not allowed to discuss." I screw my eyes shut, gritting my teeth so hard I feel they complaining about it. My hands ball into fists, my heart thrumming in my throat and head.

Breathe, Aya. Just breathe. Just breathe. Just calm down. It's… well, it's not alright. Nothing about this is alright. But Hyuuga would never abandon you, you're safe with her.

It's alright…ish.

"Fine. When do we leave?"

"At my discretion," she assures me—the only good things she's said. "I've made arrangements with Yoshino-san. Naruto will be staying with them. I've made arrangements with Hana for Lady. I've paid for the operation, should we be gone that long. And Hana assures me that both she and Kiba will take good care of her for you."

I take a deep, de~eeeeeeeeep breath, trying to calm down. Leaving not only Uzumaki behind, but Lady, too? An injured pup that needs me to take care of her?

"Listen to me, Aya. I need you to pack your things for a month long mission. You're going to need the weapons I got you, the clothes I got you, I want you to consider twin wakizashis, and you'll need some jutsu scrolls and reading material."

I make a mental list, wondering at all the things she got me earlier.

"For jutsus scrolls. Medical jutsus you'll need: the Diagnostic jutsu, the Healing jutsu, the Detox jutsu, the Chakra Scalpel jutsu, and the Mystic Palm jutsu." My jaw drops open. Just how long will we be gone? "You'll need to sign your family's summoning contract. You'll also be selecting a range of D, C, and B-rank Earth Release jutsus."

"Hyuuga?"

"No questions, Aya. I don't want to lie to you," she almost begs. I breathe a sigh, unsure what to feel about any of this. "I don't know what jutsus you've learned so far. But we'll discuss that when we get out there. You're allowed to say nothing of this to anyone. And more importantly, you will not be allowed to know when we are leaving. Is that understood?"

I nod. I don't want to—I want to scream enough profanities to make dock workers look like monks. But I trust Hyuuga. She'll do right by me. I know she will. Mama'd never forgive her otherwise.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Arriving at sensei's for dinner, I find a strange collection present: Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten, including the senseis. I smell Nara-sensei's fingerprints all over this. Given Hyuuga refused to let me out of the house before I packed everything, I'm unsure how to feel about this. We could leave the village for an undetermined duration at any second, and sensei does this?

"Hey, Aya-chan! Hinata-chan and I were just talking about you!" Yamanaka gushes, waving me over. I look to Hyuuga, who shoos me over to the girls. The second I sit down by them, blondie starts up on me again. "I was telling her how you need to start learning to play your flute. And it turns out that she's also a music enthusiast!"

"Is that so," I drone. Something feels off this evening. It's almost as if I wonder if I'll see them again—strange, considering how I've avoided them for so long.

"Yeah! She was even telling us about this play she went to see the other day, where the geisha were playing a song she liked… um, what was it called again, Hinata-chan?"

"C-calm lake," the shy one answers, her eyes downcast and a little smile on her lips.

"I've never heard of it," Haruno jumps in. Weren't she and Yamanaka always at each other's throat? This day seriously needs to end.

I make a noncommittal grunt and shrug. It's not as if I know how to play a note on the damn thing, so songs are out of my league.

I listen to them chatting away. The shy one stammering her way through her words. The blonde oozing and gushing about something or other. The fangirl being somewhat normal for a change—Uchiha doesn't get mentioned once.

They just are. No filters, no inhibitions, no expectations. Wherever the conversation goes, they follow along. Haruno asks about my new gloves, but I don't feel like talking about that. Yamanaka remarks that my fingers seem less stiff—how she even notices that isn't something I plan on understanding. Again and again, they try to lure me into the conversation.

I glance at Hyuuga and sensei, who're talking amongst the senseis. Hyuuga smiles at me, her eyes flicking to the others as if encouraging me to play nice.

"Hey, Yamanaka? I've been meaning to ask you. Why don't you start learning genjutsus?" I offer, trying to talk about something I know something about. After all, besides training, there isn't a lot I've ever had to talk about.

"When would I find the time? I mean, between the psychology lessons, the profiling lessons, the clan trainings, training with Asuma-sensei, and all the other stuff dad has me studying? I'm amazed I get eight hours of sleep." I didn't know that. I was wrong about her. "Why do you ask? Are you into genjutsus?"

"Yeah. They need an insane level of chakra control, but it's been really useful," I point out. There. I've contributed to the conversation. Happy?

Yamanaka starts theorising about her not being the type, and Haruno heartily agrees with her. Yamanaka takes exception to that, but Haruno takes it a step further saying how Yanamaka doesn't have 'the brains' for something like that.

 _Sigh_. They were getting along so well.

"There's a book called Genjutsu made easy. If you're interested, you should read it," I change the subject. "After all, there's no such thing as a useless skill."

"H-have you r-read it?" the shy one asks. I only nod, wishing to hear the end of those two idiots' bickering.

"OH YEAH?!" Yamanaka, you're being too loud. Lady starts whimpering, not liking how loud the conversation has become. Fine. Let's handle this, then.

I mould the chakra in my voice box, prepping the Soothing jutsu. Just as the vein in Yamanaka's forehead looks like it's about to pop, I let loose a throaty groan, unleashing my genjutsu on them.

The room grows silent. All conversation ends and everyone's eyes are on me. When blondie's and pinkie's eyes are in focus once again, I offer them a dull glare.

"If you two are quite done?" I drone. I get nothing but blinks and doe-eyed stares.

Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut. It'd have been so much simpler.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It's just about time to go to sleep. Sensei begged for me to spend the night at her place, assuring me there is more than enough room for Uzumaki, Hyuuga, and myself. That of course translates to Hyuuga and me sharing a room, and Uzumaki sleeping in with Nara-san.

Still. Whatever.

Sensei comes in, wishing Hyuuga and I pleasant dreams, turning off the light on her way out. I look over at Hyuuga, slumped up against the wall—the grip of her sheathed katana is lain against her shoulder, the tip between her thighs. She's still drunk off her mission adrenaline, still trying to come down from the high.

Her eyes are red, to show she needs her sleep. Her body seems relaxed, but there's a tension below the surface to show she's ready to spring into action at any second. She isn't ready to go on another mission, her mind and body need and deserve some rest. Yet the thought of allowing someone else—anyone else—take me likely never crossed her mind.

"Sleep, Aya. We've a long day ahead of us."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Welcome, one and all, to your doom!" Uzumaki starts trouble. It turns out, that sensei invited the three teams last night, for the sake of inviting them to a tournament this morning. Oh joy. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, am going to be today's ultimate fighter! So I hope you like your humble pie served cold!"

I shake my head, my shoulders and chest quivering with laughter. Uzumaki is such a goofball.

"Hnn," Uchiha clearly believes himself superior. And I know Inuzuka is gunning for top dog. Still, they forget Aburame is the only unknown factor here—everyone else is a known, and therefore predictable quantity.

At any rate, I like Nara-san's idea. So I plop down beside him, hugging my knees as I gaze up at the clouds. The sky looks bland as ever, its blue a dull hue. Still, the clouds are interesting. There's one that looks like the popcorn chicken sensei taught me to make—really small, and kind of ball-like. And another the looks like Uzumaki and I drinking the broth from a bowl of ramen.

The wind feels so nice this morning. It gently blows, tussling my hair and slapping the end of my ponytail into my face more often than not. I fish out the strands from between my lips, wondering why I'm suddenly noticing this at all.

They say the world is full of colour, full of texture, full of life and the living. Yet everything I experience is dull, bland, and smacks of death.

The skills I've accrued, all related to killing. The talent I inherited comes from a woman who was Anbu captain at age sixteen, whose hard-earned reputation was wrought in the forge of the Third Shinobi War. Her kill count was second only to the Fourth himself.

Those are the sandals I need to fill, the legacy I need to fulfil to make her proud of me.

My eyes droop, my gaze falls onto the springy grass beneath me. Will I ever live up to expectations? Could I? After all, that was a woman that dared to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Namikaze Minato.

I find myself picking at the grass beside my sandal. I never wanted that life, this life I find myself leading. I wanted to follow in papa's footsteps, to be a medic. I wanted to save lives, not end them. I wanted to be the one to tell the little girl in the waiting room that her daddy is just fine, and that he'll tuck her in soon enough.

How ironic. That two utter opposites like mama and papa came together to produce a clueless shit-for-brains like me.

 _"You have your papa's brains, no doubt about it."_ Mama's words echo through me, thundering down the corridors of my heart.

I…

I miss you, mama…

I miss you, papa…

"Aya. We're starting," sensei calls to me. I nod to show I hear her, but I don't move. I can hear her just fine from right here. "Alright. Since we have ten contestants, four of you will have a pre-tournament round to narrow the selection down to eight. These two matches will be match Aya versus Shikamaru, and Naruto versus Chouji. If Aya and Shika can please come for the first match?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I sigh, hearing Nara-san mirroring the sentiment. Neither of us is in the mood for this. He wants to cloud gaze, I just don't feel like dealing with people.

"The rules are simple! The winner is determined by knockout, ring out, or submission! This bouts will be taijutsu only! No weapons, and no chakra usage whatsoever! First match! Namiki Aya versus Nara Shikamaru! Begin!" Way to ham it up, sensei.

"Oi, Aya. This is more your thing… so I for—"

"Finish that sentence. I dare you," sensei sings, her tone sweet as honey. She just barely doesn't glow with whatever oddly placed emotion courses through her, not a trouble in her reality—or whatever bootleg version of it she lives in.

"Troublesome," Nara-san mutters, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Let's just get it over with."

I shrug, uncaring whatever he thinks this will be. We're on opposite sides of the little battle ring sensei drew in the grass, but he couldn't care less about that. In a straight up taijutsu match, he's outclassed and he knows it. He only just outstripped Uzumaki for graduation, and he likely hasn't done a damn thing about improving that.

He glares at me, but the glare quickly turns into an eye-roll and the shaking of his head.. "Pitted against a girl. How is that fair?" he grumbles. "If I hit her, I'll be a woman beater and I'll lose. If I refuse to hit her, I'll be a punching bag and I'll lose. There's no way to win."

I shake my head, wondering why he cares. Anyone with a kunai in their hand is capable of killing you. Age, sex, race, creed, all irrelevant. They have a pulse and a weapon.

More importantly, I'm the one at a severe disadvantage. He produces testosterone, a natural steroid that helps to build up his muscles. All I have is a natural limberness and hard-earned dexterity because of my training. Well, that and knowing the weak points of the body, but I can't exactly fuck up sensei's only son, now can I.

Then again, she arranged this. _Sigh_. I'd rather go back to cloud watching.

I stroll over to Nara-san, wondering at the lack of tension in him.

I punch right for his nose. He leans back and to the right. I snap back my fist before he grabs it.

I kick for his knee. He raises his leg, stopping my kick with the soft tissue—bunched up muscle where his upper shin meets his lower thigh—to cushion it. Oh really?

"Troublesome. Aya, don't go getting excited. That's too troublesome for words," he drones with a lazy drawl.

I draw back my foot, lashing another kick at his side. He goes for a two-armed chambered block.

The blow connects, but he barely reacts. I quickly snap another kick right for his head, landing a glancing blow on his cheek. Before he catches himself, I dash forward and ram a fist right in his left bicep, following up with a left el—

His leg connects with my knee, knocking me off balance. My elbow lands in his gut, winding him.

Don't get predictable, Nara-san.

I kneel, the only plausible reaction from getting my supporting leg kicked. Using the momentum he offered me, I bend over backward, using my right hand as a springboard, and launch my foot up at his face.

A muffled thud and a sting in my foot tells me I connected. He stumbles back, the sound of his sandals trampling grass and pebbles getting slightly softer to show a growing distance.

Nara-san. You suck. Uzumaki would have seen that coming.

"Shikamaru is out of the ring! Winner, Aya!" sensei calls it. I stand, moving over to Nara-san to check him. He's still standing, his forehead somewhat redder than usual.

I offer my fist, to show there's no love lost. He smiles that little smile of his, bumping fists with me.

"You pulled your punches," he accuses.

"And you didn't see through an obvious ploy," I counter. We both know he'd have seen that coming. "That makes us even."

He shrugs, walking back over to his favoured spot and plops back down on the grass. I agree, dwelling is pointless. I go and join him.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"The rules haven't changed! The second match! Uzumaki Naruto versus Akimichi Chouji!"

Uzumaki stands ready, bouncing from the energy in the traditional Muay Thai stance—standing on the balls of his feet and fists held high in the air. Everyone's eyes are on Uzumaki, especially his teammates'. They can't seem to make sense of the confidence in his stance, the sureness of how he holds himself.

"Just hurry up and lose, Naruto!" Haruno discourages him. "Everyone here wants to see Sasuke-kun fight, not you!" He shrugs, not caring. He doesn't look to anyone for support, he stands on his two feet, and he stands tall.

Chouji-san takes the standard Konoha-style stance.

"You can do it, Chouji!" Yamanaka cheers him on.

"Begin!"

Uzumaki wastes no time charging in.

Chouji dodges the first punch. He counters with a punch of his own.

Uzumaki's elbow knocks the punch off course. Chouji overextends, leaning too far forwards.

Uzumaki's knee jumps up, slamming into Chouji's gut.

Chouji doubles over, winded by the blow. He throws a punch at Uzumaki—less than efficient. He's out of breath, and his posture is horrid for it.

Uzumaki grabs him by the wrist, flipping him over the shoulder and tossing him out of the ring. Chouji rolls on impact, lessening the impact. Smart.

"Chouji is out of the ring! Naruto wins!"

All of our old classmates stare in slack-jawed awe, their eyes wide from shock. Not only did Uzumaki win, he won using skill. And in under a minute.

Uzumaki strolls over to Chouji-san, offering him a hand up. They bump fists, Chouji-san makes some comment I don't follow. I'm too busy offering a proud, knowing smirk to Uchiha and Haruno—and even busier enjoying pinkie's uncomfortable fidgeting.

Uzumaki comes to me, beaming to show he knows how he did. "What'd you think, momma-wolf?"

I could—and probably should—tell him to focus on the opponents before him, and not the defeated one behind him. "Not bad, Uzumaki," I offer instead. I smile, my eyes twinkling just a little to show my words are heartfelt. More important than the tactics lesson, is his need for someone to see his effort, his struggle.

"Alright! Now that we have eight contestants, the matches will be as follows! Match three is Sasuke versus Shino! Match Four is Naruto versus Hinata! Match Five is Aya versus Kiba! And Match Six is Ino versus Sakura! The winner of Match Three will face the winner of Match Four. The winner of Match Five will face the winner of Match Six. Then we have the final bout!"

How dramatic.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"N-Namiki-san?" I look over to the voice's source, finding the shy Hyuuga wants a word with me.

"The Third Match! Uchiha Sasuke versus Aburame Shino! Begin!" Well, it's not as if this match will be interesting to watch. I turn fully to the Hyuuga, wondering what she wants.

"I-I h-have… uh… h-here." She doesn't quite know how to get her words out, so she settles for offering two scrolls. I tilt my head slightly. "I-i-i-it's f-for y-your f-f-flute."

For my flute? Curious I take the scrolls, opening one of them. In the right corner—where the title is displayed—I find the words: The hiyashi-styled shinobue, learn to play.

Flipping that one closed, I turn to the second one. I open it as well, wondering what to expect. No title this time, just bars with funny little markings. Under the bars, I find something odd. Explanations, written in a different handwriting than the rest of it. Explanations what the markings are, now to read the bars, and how to read the rhythm—some quack theory about of the empty circle is a 'whole note'?

It's not like I know much of anything about music. I'll just have to go with the quack theory.

"Thank you," I murmur, bobbing my head. I have no idea what to make of this, what to make of her. But she's important to Uzumaki. That makes her important to me.

She smiles a little, unsure smile that shows me she's just as unsure how to handle this as I. I fight to repress a sigh, not wanting to make this worse than it already is.

Turning back to the match, I find what I was expecting—Uchiha is overwhelming Aburame, purely because Aburame's more of a jutsu user. Then again… how would they match up if Uchiha was allowed his Fire-release jutsus? He'd cook Aburame's bugs, but Aburame has a better chance of using that expectation to his advantage. Hmm. It could go either way.

At any rate, the longer Aburame lasts, the less enegy Uchiha will have against Uzumaki. Given Uzumaki is never runs out of energy, that's going to cost him.

Those two are still trying to outmanoeuvre each other, but it doesn't matter. Aburame is analytical enough to know he won't win. The only logical outcome, is that he's parrying and dodging Uchiha's attacks, because he knows what I know: nothing will hurt Uchiha more than losing to Uzumaki.

The match drags on—going on five minutes, by now. Uchiha notices the tactic too late, the damage is done. Uchiha glistens. Aburame as well, just as much, but the difference is that Aburame isn't aiming to win.

Almost as if to prove his superiority, Uchiha pulls out all the stops and really goes on the offensive. His face becomes a mask of concentration, his punches and kicks become blurs of motion.

I snort, shaking my head at the unneeded extra strain. This is only going to tire him out more, thereby playing right into Aburame's ploy. Sure, Uchiha is pressing what he sees as an advantage, and yes he is forcing his opponent back on attack at a time. In fact, Abruame's heel skirts the line of the ring—one good kick should do the job. I can't tell if Aburame notices, given his face has been unreadable this whole time.

A mighty kick, right at Aburame's chest. Aburame has to lock his stance to not get bowled over, but the force still pushes Aburame out of the ring, scoring a short-term win for Uchiha.

"Winner by ring out, Sasuke!" sensei calls it. Aburame bows, uncaring, and walks over to a spot by himself. The winner stands in the ring, congratulating himself—though he's soon lavished with praise by his two remaining fangirls.

He thinks he has this in the bag. His fan club certainly agrees.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Fourth Match! Hyuuga Hinata versus Uzumaki Naruto!" The shy one's demeanour leaves a lot to be desired. She fidgets, rooted to the spot where she stands.

"Good luck to both of us," Uzumaki offers, with a thumbs up and a cheesy grin. She doesn't relax at all. I can only imagine what the thought of fighting her crush is doing to her.

"Begin!"

Thrusting his balled fists in the air, a silent battle cry to attest to his readiness, he nods to her. She blushes, looking down and away.

"It's alright, Hinata-chan," he assures her. I'm tempted to believe he understands what's going through her head. I'll be damned if I understand either well enough to figure them out. "Give it your all. That's all I'll ever ask."

I blink.

She takes a deep breath.

I tilt my head to one side, wondering why that does anything at all.

She takes the Konoha-style stance we were all taught.

He nods, a gentle smile in his eyes.

I shake my head in dismay, fearing for the future if this mouse is going to be the matriarch of the Uzumaki clan.

Then it all falls away. Gone is the fidgeting, gone is the nervous tension I've never seen her without. Gone is the mouse I've studied.

She flies at him, her foot little more than a blur as it's hurled at his side.

He blocks with his forearm, grabbing onto her shin. "Better! Much better, Hinata-chan! Give me more of that!"

Then he… is he…? He's letting go?

He. Lets. Go.

He has her where he clearly has the upper hand, and he lets her go.

What…?

…

She ambles back, slowly circling around him, looking for an opening. He resumes the Muay Thai stance, leaving his middle hopelessly open, at first glance. She blaze another kick, this time for his leg—for his knee.

He blocks with his shin, the force making her wince. He then lets her back off again, circling around for a better angle of attack. He keeps shifting with her, keeping her directly in front of him, where he's least vulnerable.

That sneaky little shit! This is how I taught him, exactly how I taught him. After I decided his form was no longer abhorrent, I'd let him attack me and only block. He isn't teaching her how to fight, though. He's teaching her that it's okay to mess up with him, that it's okay to learn from your mistakes.

The corners of her mouth curl up slightly, barely noticeable.

Hyuuga sidles up beside me, her stance slightly tense. "We leave after your match with Kiba," she murmurs, almost too soft for me to hear. I nod, unsure why I had to be here for this in the first place.

Over and over, the shy one attacks, the crass one blocks and lets her back off. She's starting to tire, though. Is he planning on masking this as the same tactic Aburame used? Is he planning this at all? I don't understand you, blondie. At all.

She tires, she's sweating bullets, and she doesn't seem to care. The smile on her face only grows brighter, as does the joy in her eyes.

She pauses, trying to catch her breath. Uzumaki walks over the huffing and puffing opponent he never lifted a finger to defeat. Her eyes are wide with shock, even as she struggles to calm her erratic heart—I can hear her racing heartbeat from here.

When he's close enough, he grins—the brightest, widest, cheesiest grin he can manage, gently lays both hands on her shoulders, and offers her some praise: "That's my girl."

She passes out. Surprising no one. "Winner by knock out, Naruto!" Everyone groans at the 'lame win', as Haruno abrasively points out.

That he catches her, however. That he scoops her up in his arms, bridal style. That he carries her over to Aburame, sets the glowing red kunoichi beside her teammate on the soft, springy grass where she can rest. That he sits down beside her, to guard her as she slumbers, and makes an offhand comment about liking Aburame's tactic against 'broody'.

Well, I for one am surprised as all hell. The more I study you, Uzumaki, the less sense you seem to make.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Inuzuka stands opposite me. Akamaru and Lady sit side by side at Uzumaki's feet. A straight up taijutsu match is Inuzuka's forte, and he's easily stronger than I am. His weakness is his intelligence—his being 'plenty smart enough'.

He sniffs, trying to get a good read on me. I shrug, not caring enough about a fight I won't be allowed to win. He raises an eyebrow, wondering what to make of me, then he narrows his eyes.

"You're not into guys," he points out, almost like he's talking about the weather.

"And that has what to do with this match?" I ask, my eyebrow halfway to my hairline. Uzumaki being a complete puzzle is one thing. Inuzuka showing intelligence? That's a whole other box of chocolates.

"You know how strong I am. You value strength. And yet, you aren't into me."

"That's the best explanation you have?" I drone, shaking my head in disgust.

"You're a canine, dog or not. You see strength the way Inuzukas see it. Even if you hated my guts, you'd still be aroused by a strong candidate. So yeah. You're not into guys." Thank you, professor horny mutt.

"I'm aroused by intelligence. That's why you can't affect me," I drone. Nothing but chuckles, giggles, and guffaws—mostly from Uzumaki, seeing how amused he is by this morning's entertainment. Asshole.

"Then Shikamaru would have you creaming your panties," he counters, smirking. He sounds sure of himself. Too sure of himself. "Ain't no shame in it, Aya. I think guys suck, too."

"Tha… that's n-not the point!" I try, knowing I've lost. Fact is, this is something I should have figured out years ago. I didn't. I didn't want to even consider the notion. Not that it matters, but still. "O-oi! Aren't we supposed to be fighting?"

"Fifth Match!" Sensei. I hear the amusement in your tone. And I see the mischief in your eyes. "Namiki Aya versus Inuzuka Kiba, Konoha's resident lady killers!" Uzumaki loses his shit, laughing so hard I'm amazed his sides don't burst.

"Hey, Aya-chan! If you beat Kiba, I'll give you a kiss during our match!" Yamanaka offers, grinning ear to ear. I roll my eyes, fighting off a blush.

"In your dreams, Ino-pig! Ther's no way I'm losing to you!"

"Do you want to kiss Aya-chan that badly?" Yamanaka teases. "She's attracted to intelligence, so you might stand a chance."

I groan, rolling my eyes up at the heavens and mutely beg for an explanation for the fascination with me.

"Forget this," I complain, beckoning to Lady. She comes tumbling over, her hind leg still bothers her too much for her to trot. I scoop her up, kissing her on the nose. She whimpers, grumbling pitifully about not wanting me to go. "Lady. Be good while I'm gone. Make sure you eat your food, and remind Inuzuka about your supplements, okay?"

Instead of answering me, she licks my nose and face—indirectly telling me not to go once again. I hand her to Inuzuka, no matter how my heart aches to keep my pup near.

"Take care of my pack, Inuzuka," my eyes flick to Uzumaki, so he knows who I mean, "and the Namiki family will be in your debt."

"Che. Inuzukas always take care of the pack, so you know I will," he brags, puffing out his chest. I roll my eyes, unwilling to get into that.

I turn from him, from Lady, ignoring the pitiful whimpering that'll be haunting me until I get back. I go to Uzumaki, tussle his hair, just because I can, and offer him a little smile. His lips curl upwards, trying to smile to show me he's okay, but his eyes droop—he doesn't want me to go, either.

Without a word, I look to Hyuuga. Her eyes flick in sensei's direction, the mute 'suggestion' more than obvious. _Sigh_.

I drag my feet over to sensei, ignoring the begging in her eyes and the heartache I'm responsible for. I unzip her flak jacket, nestling into her warmth as I listen to her heart beating—steady and strong. Her arms wrap around me, holding onto me like it's the last time she'll ever get the chance. Maybe it is. My parents both died on missions, so who's to say.

I pull… try to pull back from sensei, but she squeezes me tighter, telling me she's not ready to let go just yet. "Come home, baby," she begs. I'm still not sure why I need to take this mission, what the mission is, what the parameters are, or why she's not coming along. I just… I don't understand much of anything right now.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 9_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Sorry this took so much longer, but work got super busy all of a sudden. Here's to hoping that problem was fixed and everyone actually gets an update.  
_**


	10. A taste of freedom

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 10 – A taste of freedom**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Standing outside Konoha's gates, all that lies before me is the untamed wilds of the Land of Fire. The wind carries the scent of trees, of grass, of roaming wildlife, and of no human settlements—Konoha is downwind.

I don't turn to Hyuuga, I don't ask where we're going—not that I don't care, I just don't care right now. For some reason, I feel like a baby bird leaving the nest for the first time. I feel my wings spreading of their own accord, my eyes pick up metre after metre of nothingness between the ground and me. It's scary as all hell—especially with worrying about Lady and that utter basket case Uzumaki—but I find myself slinking closer to the edge all the same.

"Let's go," Hyuuga announces, wrapping her arm around my shoulder as she sets a snail-like pace. Her warmth feels nice, even in the growing heat of the late-summer morning. I can't see her face, not with the hoodie in the way, but I find I don't care to. I smell her, I feel her, and I have her here with me—that comforts me more than anything else could.

So we walk at a slow, lumbering pace that might worry me any other time. Instead of bothering with that, I focus on the well-worn path before us, on the lazy clouds loitering in the sky, on a fox nosing around in search of food for her kits.

We're approaching the treeline, but I'm fine with that. The scent of moss and shrubbery is added to the mix. The warmth of the sun recedes as we enter the shade, but our pace doesn't change.

I look up at Hyuuga, wondering at the concentration etched on her features. She looks down at me, smiling with her eyes. The tightness of my chest eases, and yet I find myself breathless all the same. I don't understand this power she's claimed over me—that bothers me, yet I cannot seem to care.

The sound of running water eases into my world. I briefly wonder what that's about, but find myself not caring about that either.

Hyuuga leads me to a quaint little bridge, but not over it. We walk away from the beaten path, downstream. I smell squirrels nearby, busying themselves with collecting nuts for winter. There are some rabbits as well, concerning themselves with this new scent in the air—I smell their distress, so they worry we're predators.

I… I…

What is this feeling? This lack of worry, this lack of caring that I don't know where I am. Is there a name for that?

All I know is that I'm safe. It's all I care to know.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Let's stop here," Hyuuga announces. There isn't anything special about 'here', just a glade beside the river. Still, it's good enough for her.

She lets go of me for the first time since we left Konoha, strolling over to a tree where she promptly bares herself below the waist and squats to relieve herself. Figuring she has the right idea—it'll warn animals that this is our territory now—I follow suit.

Once I've repackaged everything, and mutely curse about not having something to wipe myself with, I turn to her, wondering what we're doing.

"We make camp," she says, almost like it should have been obvious. Maybe it should have been, I'm not sure.

I unseal the bag with my tent, already surveying the area for a decent spot to set it up. It's probably safer to set up the fire pit in the centre of the glade, and set our tents around that. With a quick estimation of the centre, I take a few paces from there, and I plop the bag down. This is the right spot, I think.

It takes a few minutes before our tents are set up, hers opposite mine, and we decide to look around for rocks good enough to use for a fire pit—searching for deadfall while we're at it. Once we have a selection of both, we head back together and start digging a pit using a kunai.

Is it strange that I find some level of comfort in these simple, mundane tasks?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Alright, Aya. It's time to see what you can really do. Don't hold back. I need to see your true skill," Hyuuga demands, her gaze boring into me. I shrug, unsure how she even knows I've been holding back. "We'll start with the tree-walking skill."

I walk up to a tree just on the edge of our camp, placing my foot flat against it and strolling up like it's not defying any natural laws. When I reach the lowest branch—about ten metres off the ground—I walk onto that, plopping down and gazing down at her.

"Alright. That's one down. Next is the water-walking exercise. Come on down and we'll start on that." I nod, walking right back down to her.

"Can we…?" I murmur, blushing and looking away from her.

"Nn?" she noises, obviously needing more to go on.

"C-can we… n-not train today?" I plead, my whole body turning pink, not that she can see that with how little skin I'm showing.

"Alright. How about I show you how to fish?" No hesitation, no resistance. Just a calm acceptance.

Whoever has your heart, Hyuuga, they'd better treat you right.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Try to remember that light breaks when going from one medium to another. So unless you are directly above the fish, it will not actually be in a straight line," she explains, after I've missed the tenth fish in a row. I've never felt this inept, but she barely seems to notice.

Alright, so the light breaks. Is it breaking up or down? I'll try down first, see how that works.

I crouch on the low-hanging branch, peering into that water as I seek another fish. It takes almost ten minutes before a lone fish comes into view.

I study my target, trying to get a feel for its motions.

I wait for it to come closer, to increase my chance of success.

Closer.

Closer…

NOW!

I fling the special kunai just under where I see the fish.

It pierces the water with a little splash.

It nicks the dorsal fin, but the fish is otherwise unharmed.

I smirk. Sure, I missed, but I almost caught it that time. I just need to aim a little lower—depending on where the fish is and how deep, of course.

Pulling the wire, I reel the kunai back in. The water dripping off it feel cool, and smells a little funny. Still, it's a necessary evil if I'm going to fish to survive.

Once I have the kunai in my grip, I start surveying for the next lucky customer.

Ooh, here comes one now! I ready my kunai, studying it as it comes closer… closer…

Now!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The sun is long set. The evening's gentle chill rolls in, combatting the warmth of the fire Hyuuga lit. Over the fire are four of the fish I caught. I couldn't be prouder of myself, having finally caught something we can eat.

I've been smiling all evening, no matter how I fight it. Hyuuga showed me how to descale the fish, how to 'clean it', and helped me skewer them. She didn't praise me for getting it right, but she didn't chastise me for getting it wrong either. She…

She's different.

A good different.

We sit, huddled together as we watch our dinner roast. No words are exchanged—it doesn't feel like anything needs saying.

No, the only sounds we need are the crickets' singing, the bats taking flight for the night, the owls' hooting in the distance, the crackling of the fire, and our breathing in this perfect moment. This moment where there is no goal, no life to save or end. Just… just being.

"The fish should be done," Hyuuga mutters, mostly to herself, I think. She stands, grabbing all four sticks for us, and coming back to me. She plops down much closer to me. Close enough that I can hear her heart beating a little faster.

"Here." She offers me my share. I pull down my mask, revealing the smile that hasn't dimmed in the least. We sit, and we eat. One bite at a time, gorging on fish I caught for us… for her.

My cheeks glow with that though; I provided a meal for her, I took care of her. As stupid as it sounds, taking care of her—even with silly little things like this—it… it does things to me. It fills me with a warmth that the fire and her proximity cannot account for.

Taking another bite, I let that warmth balloon within me, let it fill me up. A feeling I'm quickly getting addicted to, for good or for ill.

"We start your training tomorrow," she mutters, taking another bite. I nod, figuring I wouldn't get away with two days in a row.

I lean into her, snuggling just a little closer.

I sigh, contented.

Can this moment last forever? Please?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Wah!" I start flailing my arms to keep my balance. Standing on a moving river isn't the simplest thing in the world! I lose my focus for the umpteenth time, splashing into the cool water. I still got a whole six steps that time!

I swim up, breaching the surface and taking in a deep breath. Hyuuga sits on the bank, her eyes ever on me as I train. Paddling over to the bank, I start making my way back up to her. Then it's back to start, carefully focusing my chakra and treading out onto the water.

Two steps. Three. Going good, Aya. Just breathe, focus, and keep in mind that water moves. The surface is ever shifting, ever changing. Five steps. Okay. Stop. Breathe. Keep still. Just try to stay standing with the shifting water.

Good. Good!

I turn to Hyuuga, finding her five metres up the bank. I start walking towards her, keeping my steps steady, keeping my balance. Our eyes meet. I see the pride, the joy, the… blu—

 **SPLASH!**

Son of a bitch! What the hell happened?

One moment I was walking along just fine. The next… she…

Hyuuga smiled at me. She was blushing and smiling at me.

I shake off the shock, swimming up to the surface again. I trudge all the way back to her, plopping down beside her and shaking off the water. "One more go?" she asks.

"Alright." I get up, walking out onto the surface once again. This time I turn upstream and start walking that way. I try to pace myself, keeping the trees in view stationary.

Ten steps. Fifteen.

Speed up just a little, the current isn't that slow.

Twenty steps. Thirty.

Okay, good. Good! Just don't look…

I feel her eyes on me. Roaming up and down? Is… is she checking me out?

Psh. Sure, Aya. You've been hanging around Inuzuka too much if you believe that. She's way out of your league. She a kami-damned Op! She could have any girl she wants.

And yet, I feel her gaze on me all the same. I believe she's checking my technique or something, but… I like feeling her eyes on me.

Slowly, carefully, I start swaying my hips as I walk. I'm still super careful not to lose focus! But… Well, I won't complain if she enjoys the view… even if just a little.

Whoa! Trees are starting to move forward again. Okay, focus damn it! Losing track of your surroundings is such a rookie mistake!

I take a deep brea…

 **Splash!**

Did she… did she smell… mildly aroused?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"With the water-walking exercise under the belt, it's time to learn the body flicker," Hyuuga announces. Instead of looking for another glade, or an alcove, or something… she is standing on water with me, watching the trees ease past our position.

"You should use the Tiger handseal to focus your chakra. Keep in mind your chakra needs to be focused in the pad near your toes." I nod to show I understand. I wish we didn't have to learn this on water, though! I mean, I just barely got used to not flailing and flopping into the water!

"Give it a try."

I take a deep breath, folding my hands into the Tiger seal. I know I can't send the chakra to my feet just like that. Too much chakra and I'll repel the water, just like with the tree-walking exercise. So, it needs to be a burst. Okay, but I can't put in too much, or I'll end up flying ahead and skipping like a rock…

So I'll try… three times what I need for the substitution technique.

In one go, I flood those pads with the needed chakra and—

 **BOOM!**

Why am I mid-air? Why am I still going up?

I flip over, looking down to where Hyuuga's standing. There's steam rising from where I should have been. Did I just pour so much into my feet that I cooked the water I was standing on?

Crap. And now I gotta land on the water. Okay, think. You're over twenty metres up. Your body can't handle a fall like that. Sure, if I dive into the water, it will soften the blow. But it'll still hurt like a bitch. To—

A flash.

I'm moving.

 _Sniff_.

Hyuuga?

She must have figured out some way up here and caught me.

I can't really see what's going on. All I to know is that Hyuuga has me—that I'm safe in her arms. It's all I need to know, really.

All too soon, I feel her putting me down. "What just happened?" I'm asked, but I don't have an answer either.

"I must have put too chakra into that," I guess, shrugging but still holding onto her.

"You don't have enough chakra to cook water like that," she mutters, trying to make sense of it. I shrug, not having an answer for that. "Show me again."

I look up at her, seeing the veins around both her eyes bulging and her face pinched in concentration. I was enjoying that hug, you know!

 _Sigh._

I pull away from her, fighting the whimper when her warmth recedes. Taking a few healthy steps away from her, I form the Tiger handseal once again, and do the motions exactly how I just found my—

 **BOOM!**

And here we are again. I'm flying up in the air. Yay. Satisfied, Hyuuga?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Another day is done, another meal by the fire. I caught another four fish—we only need four, after all. This time, I descaled them, gutted them… and skewered them. I still refuse to get close enough to the fire to roast them, but I did everything else!

I really hate fire. Stupid fire is how I got my burn.

I'm worn out from today, so I'm glad to just sit here. Beside Hi… beside Hyuuga.

I keep wondering why I felt her gaze on me. Does she find me attractive? But then… why did she buy me an outfit that covers my face? Does she see only mama when she looks at me? I can imagine how that might hurt.

"We're going to work on something different tomorrow," Hyuuga announces out of the blue. I turn to her, wordlessly asking what's up. "Your chakra control is good. So I want to help you learn to reinforce your muscles and bones. That way, I can teach you a trick with that tetsubo of yours."

"My chakra control isn't—"

"It is," she cuts in. "You were focusing your chakra into three pinpoint spots on your foot. That's how you cooked the water. That's how you've been learning these jutsus so quickly."

"O…kay?" My control can't be _that_ good.

"Your diet's been horrible. So your chakra reservoir is severely underdeveloped. That means you make do with less than Sakura-san from your class." I grimace, not liking the idea of being compared to her, let alone finding out she's in some way superior to me. "And yet, because your control is so hair-fine, you waste nothing. It's why genjutsus come so naturally to you."

"Still waiting for a point here," I remind her.

"The point, Aya. Is that I need to force you to empty your chakra pool to force it to start growing again." I wince, not liking the sound of that. "So I'm going to teach you to enhance your strength via chakra, then I'm going to start teaching you how to combine that with the body flicker jutsu, and that way we'll empty your reserves quickly."

Tomorrow's going to suck, in other words.

"And when you're out of chakra, I'll be teaching you some new genjutsus to broaden your repertoire. And during breakfast and lunch, I want you reading up on the healing jutsu. You're going to start practicing that at night."

"Slave driver," I complain.

"You can handle it." Yeah, we'll see about that.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"No, not just your fist, Aya," she chides. Shut up already! It fucking hurts! "You need to distribute focused chakra into your muscles, your bones, your joints, and your itty bitty little blood vessels, chakra pathways, and lymphatic pathways. If you cannot do that for every inch of tissue from your knuckles to your pecs on your chest, then this is all for naught."

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" I bellow, my entire forearm throbbing from the pain.

"If it hurts, you should practice the Diagnostic jutsu on yourself, then see if you can use the Healing jutsu to undo the damage." Smart ass.

I plop down onto the grass, glaring at the stupid rock I just punched. Even if there's a sizeable dent in it, I care more about my bleeding knuckles.

Focusing the moulded chakra I need into my right hand, I cast the Diagnostic jutsu, scanning my left hand. Fuck! Fractured two of my knuckles, bruised my muscles, and ruptured one of my veins.

That's not good. The Healing jutsu can close superficial wounds and mend muscle tissue, that's about it. That means I can't do shit with this other than healing the muscles.

Some of my thoughts must have played out in my eyes, because Hit… Hyuuga comes to me, her hands already glowing green. I stare, wide-eyed, as my hand feels like it's being dipped into molten steel. I grimace, gritting my teeth to bare it, though it lasts but a moment.

Soon the aching recedes, all but a lingering phantom pain—my brain is likely trying to gauge this new development and is coming up blank.

"Don't look so surprised," she teases. "When you're on your own, you either learn these things or you spend a lot of time in the hospital. So I learned quickly."

That… doesn't make sense. She's a Hyuuga. Wouldn't her clan see to her needs, given how hard she works for Konoha's benefit?

"Don't go there," she orders, her face pinched with emotional turmoil. I guess she can read my thoughts through my eyes, or something.

"But why didn't you heal your arm and side?" I press, trying to make sense of her.

"Because I can't," she mutters, her eyes clouded over. Whatever she's thinking about troubles her. "So I need you to learn those healing jutsus. So if I get injured on a mission, I can come to you."

"M-me?" I can't feel my face. In fact, all I can feel is an overwhelming sense of awe crowding everything else out.

"Yes, Aya. You," she confirms, her brow furrowed. She's thinking about something bad, something that leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. "Hana is good at what she does, but every Op goes to her and…"

What do I say to that? What do I think about that? I mean… she's essentially telling me that I'm going to be what keeps her from going absolutely apeshit in the hospital if Inuzuka has her hands full.

But… at the same time… she's telling me I'm someone she can trust on that level. Injured animals are the least trusting of the world around them, injured Ops even less so. So if an injured Op is telling me she needs me to keep her healthy…?

"We're stopping for lunch?" I ask. Not waiting for confirmation, I plop down, unsealing the bag I have with training scrolls and start digging through it to find the chakra control exercise scroll Inuzuka gave me. I also fish out the Mystic Palm jutsu. It's going to be so over my head it isn't funny, and it's going to push me so far beyond my limits that even Oz will be more familiar than Kansas, but… Hito… Hyuuga needs me.

She. Needs. Me.

I can't not give this more than my all with my every waking breath.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

This…

Is…

Fucking…

INSANE!

The chakra exercise? Walking on water using only my fingertips. Where does Hyuuga bring me to do it? The roughest stretch of river, with the surface turning white from how it churns and flows.

Fucking… kami-damned… hell…

This is going to suck.

Royally suck.

I try to play it smart, standing on my hands on the shore then balancing on my f—

Fuck! My hands buckled under the weight. Okay… so I need to try to reinforce my fingers with chakra to… HYUUGA!

The exact shit she was telling me I need to do before. She wants me to do that, while balancing on my fingertips on a fucking raging rapids?!

"You're an asshole. You know that?" I grouse, rubbing my forehead to ease the onset of a headache.

"You're the one demanding to run before you can crawl," she counters, her body language and tone languid. "I am merely showing you how impossible it will be for you to attempt the Mystic Palm just yet."

"Tha…" Since when does she make this much sense?

"I have a plan, Aya. A plan that will help get you up to speed efficiently and safely. But I cannot have you plotting around it or taking steps before I feel you're ready." My mouth hangs open, trying to come up with something. Anything, really. Nothing comes.

I cross my arms, pouting even though she can't see it. "Fine," I grouse, fighting down a hot blush. I'm not sure why—she can't see it, so it must be out of habit.

"Good. Now give me three hundred Flying Tigre push-ups. And keep in mind you need to reinforce at least the bones and joints to do this right." _Sigh_. "No sass, young lady." Sighing isn't sassy! "On your fingertips. Now."

I grumble, focusing chakra into the bones and muscles of both my hands, hoping this will be a good place to start.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Eight days. No days off. No rest. No hope.

Eight days of getting up before dawn. Eight days of having rations bars for breakfast. Eight days starting with stretches to soothe my overused muscles and tendons. Eight days of increasing amounts of increasingly complicated and demanding workouts. Workouts that make Flying Tiger push-ups look like a walk in the park.

I've had to do squats while holding a bag that is increasingly filled with heavy rocks. I've had to hang from branches with my knees and do 'sit-ups'. I've had to do Muay Thai katas with weights attached to my wrists, forearms, upper-arms, chest, back, thighs, shins, and feet—of course I had to spar with Hyuuga with those weights as well, once I got used to them. All of this while reinforcing larger and larger swathes of my body with chakra to no damage anything. Then when she felt I was getting used to that, she made me start doing all the other exercises with the same fucking weights…

So here I am. In my tent. So sore I can barely move. With a no intention of moving from this kami-damned spot.

"Aya. Time to get up," Hyuuga announces. No, it isn't. It isn't time for anything. "Come on. I have deer steaks ready."

"I'm not moving from this spot," I announce in no uncertain terms.

"No training. I promise."

"Don't. Care," I grouse. "Not. Moving."

The tent's flap flies open, revealing Hyuuga squatting and peering in. "Come on. I'll make it worth your while."

"Not! Moving!" I repeat, wondering what's so hard to understand about that.

"What if I offer you a massage to ease the aches and pains?"

"Does that include moving from this spot?" I remind her what my only goal is today. The bar, for once, is set mercifully low. If I survive past today, it's a win.

"It does."

"Then no."

"What if I make a run to Konoha to get you chocolate ice cream as a reward for cooperating?" she tries. I think about it, but I can't really say I'm tempted. It's not as if I'll taste the damn thing.

"Still no."

"You're not staying in there by yourself all day, Aya. It's unhealthy and counterproductive."

"Joining me is an option, you know." I mean it, Hyuuga. I'm not moving.

She sighs, shaking her head in dismay. She crawls into my tent, plopping down on her side next to me. "Satisfied?"

"No," I grumble, unzipping her flak jacket and slithering into her warmth. "Now I'm satisfied." She shakes her head in amusement, before grabbing me—none of my nerve-endings are happy about that—easing herself onto my futon and letting me lie on top of her. I like this idea even better.

Tempted as I am to chew her head off for touching any part of me that's sore and/or in pain, I choose to lay my head in her chest. The steady beating of her heart greets me like an old friend. The scent of her skin after a wash-down fills me. Her warmth trickles into the cracks and crevices of the person I should have been, acting as a glue to keep me from falling apart.

I feel… I don't feel broken… for the first time in so long, I don't feel the urge to curl up in some dark corner of my little apartment and let the earth swallow me whole.

"Why are you crying?" she murmurs, her calloused hands gently pushing my glasses up and out of the way as she wipes away my tears.

"I d-don't know," I murmur. I didn't even know I was crying until she pointed it out, but now find myself crying more and more and I can't make myself stop.

"I hate my parents so much." The words flop off my tongue before I can identify them. "I hate that they left me. That they abandoned me. That they didn't come home to me." Now my heart decides verbal diarrhoea is a good thing.

As sore as I feel. As much as my body aches. The pain I've borne these long years hurts more. This pain that life never let me heal. This pain that only worsens when I see people with their mother. This pain that sears between my ears when I see my classmates greeting their very much alive mothers and fathers and telling them about their day.

The hollowness in my chest that is dug out just a little more every time I visit my parents' graves, knowing that I never even got their bodies so I can bury them.

I find myself blurting it all out—whether she can identify my words, I dare not guess. I tell her about the long hours in my apartment, where I'd spent so many sleepless nights training. I tell her why I hate Hokage-dono, both for his ineptness at protecting Uzumaki and for his forgetting to at least have mama's and papa's names carved in the Memorial Stone. I tell her about my plan to get myself killed once I've saved enough allies and killed enough enemies—and the updated plan to throw myself off Hokage Rock, so they won't have the ability to claim they couldn't find my body and therefore wouldn't bury me between mama's and papa's graves.

I tell it all, though I'll never understand why. I don't want to talk about it. I didn't plan on ever telling any of it. Yet, even as I feel my tears soaking her shirt, even as the broken and useless words that haunt my every waking moment bleed out of me…

I don't feel broken. Hurt, alone, angry, scared out of my mind, but not broken.

A gentle pressure on my scalp brings me out of my stupor. Her fingernails gently comb through my hair, scratching some parts, grazing others. Soon she takes out the ninja wire I tied my hair with, loosening the French braid and combing through my hair with her fingers.

I feel her. I breathe her in like she's all I have on this accursed plane. She tugs at the knots in my hair, but I find the gentle pain she inflicts oddly soothing.

"I'm s-sorry," she utters. The tears in her quivering voice, the potency of her emotions knocks the air out of me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Training starts again the next morning. Only this time, I'm instructed to train with my tetsubo in my grip and not dragging over the water's surface—because, of course, training on dry land is for sissies.

So what am I instructed to do? "It's simple. Body flicker five metres, swing the tetsubo. You will continue this pattern until lunch."

 _Sigh_. _Simple_. This damn thing weights eight kilos! It doesn't sound like much, but when you account for the fuckton of kinetic energy with each swing?

Whatever. I grip the tetsubo, laying it on my shoulder so I can find out if I can even body flicker while holding the damn thing.

The odd thing, the thing I don't understand even in the slightest, is how even when weighed down by the tetsubo… I feel lighter.

Fucking weird.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 10_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Sorry, darlings. No teasers what the next chapter is going to be about.  
_**


	11. A whiff of excitement

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 11 – A whiff of excitement**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It's been three weeks. Three long, tiring weeks. I'm sure by now my the knots in my muscles have knots of their own. My bruises must have bruises. Between the medical trainings, the genjutsu trainings, the utterly asinine physical training, and learning to field with a glorified baseball bat, I find myself too tired to argue about most anything.

"We're doing something different today," Hit… Hyuuga announces. I hate it when she says shit like that—it always ends up being more bothersome than yesterday's 'something different'. "We break camp. We're heading north."

I shrug, unsure what to make of that. Not that it matters. I'm not exactly attached to this campsite.

We pack our things, stuff them into their respective bags, and seal the bags. We leave, Hyuuga leading the way through the trees.

I can tell we're up to no good. Hyuuga isn't making a sound, and she glares at me every time I make one by accident. She doesn't explain a thing, though. She leads, picking up the pace more and more, testing how fast I can run.

Then she starts body flickering from branch to branch. I'm obviously meant to keep up, so I body flicker and keep on her heels. Though I cannot see the sun well through the canopy, I know it to be early morning. How long will we travel at this breakneck pace?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We stop for a bathroom break just after nine—I think—and we stop again for lunch, around noon. There hasn't been much of anything but unending forest. Just trees, branches, and leaves. Other than that? It's just Hyuuga and me.

Once we've downed our rations bars, she pipes up. "We're going to clear out a series of bandit camps." A headache instantly rips through me. "You will scout their camp. You will come up with a plan. We will discuss said plan. If I find it to my liking, you will execute the plan. Once the bandits are all dead, you will organise their weapons, their belongings, and we will discuss what is worth taking."

With that, she body flickers ahead, not even waiting to hear what I have to say about this. I shake my head. Is she trying to help me accomplish my goals?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It's going on three in the afternoon when we stop again. We see to our needs, but the scent of trouble hangs heavy in the air: humans, unwashed and male. The veins around her eyes bulge again, and she turns towards a seemingly random direction.

"You know where the camp is," she murmurs. I nod. It isn't hard to tell there are over fifty men, that they are less than a kilometre in the direction she's facing, or that they are all civilians and untrained in the shinobi arts. "Good. Then from here on in, I'm a fly on the wall."

I unseal a bottle of water and a bar of chocolate, plopping down onto the branch we stopped on. I rip open the bar's wrapping, biting into it.

So let's see. What is the better plan. It's roughly three hours to sunset. I can use the night vision jutsu to see in the dark—that gives me a clear advantage. So the time is already all but set. They greatly outnumber me, so I'll have to use stealth to tip the scales back to my favour.

I take another bite, slowly chewing on the problem presented to me.

I'll need to know patrols, time, any routine I can about them. I'll need to identify the buildings if there are more than one. I'll need to figure out who's in charge, given that one's bound to be more of a challenge.

Well. Everything else I come up with now will be purely speculative. I need to check them out. Nodding to myself, I wolf the last of the chocolate down and empty the bottle of water quickly. I stuff the wrapping into the bottle of water and seal them both into a separate seal where I keep them.

With that handled, I start my trek towards the camp.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Landing on a high branch overlooking their camp, I'm already doubting their intelligence. I can see their every move up here. There's a wall of logs strung together with the top sharped into a point. There's a battlements of sorts, where they patrol their shithole of a camp. And there are three buildings inside it—and a decent spread of ground where three of the bandits are brawling to entertain the idiot brigade.

Every single one of them is more focused on the fight than anything. They shout—cheering one and jeering the other, though I can't tell which is for whom. It would be only too easy to sneak in right now and start slitting throats, but I don't know enough yet—not a risk I'm willing to take.

Most of the bandits are scrawny, bordering on malnourished—given they camp in a forest, that makes no sense. That means they lack survival training and joined this rag-tag bunch for some other reason. Given they're all enjoying the fight almost too much, I can guess it's their love for blood being spilled—not that they are doing a good job of brawling.

They all wield blades. Some have katanas, most wakizashis, and a select few went for shorter blades. One of the dagger-wielders skulks up to a katana wielder—his hand blurs as he relieves his comrade of something that looks like a little bag.

Wow. These really are scum if they steal from their own.

A burly, wall of a man strolls out of the building furthest from the sole gate. The shouting dies down instantly. Bingo, the head honcho.

"Are you **maggots** lookin' for a **real** fight?!" the man bellows, brandishing two dagger-like knuckle dusters. Everyone starts acting as if they were doing something else—anything else. "Tha's wha' I thought!" I sniff, focusing to isolate that one's scent. Honestly, he might make for a decent genin, if he tried. He looks strong as an ox. And he smells of cheap booze and cigarette.

Hmm. So what can I smell about this place? That small building is the outhouse—no plumbing in the forest for this band of 'merry' men. The biggest building the boss just strolled into smells of no one else—he sleeps alone. The other building stinks of the unwashed asses around here.

There's also the scent of choji oil—used to oil blades—coming from the a little three-walled 'house' I didn't pay much attention to nestled beside the boss's house. That might be the 'blacksmith' area, though I doubt they do much of anything there, given the oil smells old and dirty.

Well. I just need to wait until sunset, and I'll have a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The plan? Wake up early, striking for three in the morning. Scale the wall, out whatever lights they set up. Take out the men on duty while they are trying to figure that out. Make my way into the barracks and take them out one at a time. Leave the boss for last. Armaments allowed: just my tetsubo. Jutsus allowed: none. This is supposed to look like someone strongmanned them, so even if there is an investigation, I'd never fit the profile.

So Hyuuga wakes me up in the dead of the night. We make our way back to the same branch as earlier, and she nods to me. No more words—not that it'd be needed.

The place is lit only by torches along the outer wall, and a torch near the boss's building. Nowhere else. Six torches in total, and it's a new moon. They'll be blinded by the low lighting.

I slowly make my way down to the forest floor where I grab two fist-fulls of dirt. I make my way over to the wall and walk up the vertical surface, up to the first torch. The thought of getting so fucking close to fire spooks me, but this is the better option.

When I feel the warmth of the torch, I crouch and reach forwards for it. Using the thick coating of cool soil, I smother the flame.

The second the light dims, I back off and start making my way to the second torch. I hear a confused shout, but I can't make out what they said—some strange accent that almost sounds like 'gerroff, th'ligh dun uut'.

I'm quick to out the second torch, hearing that same nonsensical cry. It isn't too long before all the torches on the walls are out.

"Hat tha fack is guing un?!" Japanese must be harder to learn than I thought. Whatever, phase one is done.

I body flicker a distance away, unsealing a bottle of water to clean my hands. All that's left for phase one is to take out the now clearly panicking corpses.

Unsealing my tetsubo, I body flicker back to the wall and start scaling it. Once at the top, I sniff, smelling the freaking-out bandits near the first torch I out. I hear their teeth chattering as they stammer out things I make no sense of—something about angry demons, I'm guessing.

I climb over the last bit of wall, enjoying the grey monotone of my outfit. Unfortunately, I need to see for this next bit, so I cast the night vision jutsu, seeing the world around me light up somewhat. I keep low, trying to stay unnoticed.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w—" one of the bandits starts stuttering something, pointing right at me. Hmm? Better take them out quick.

I dash around the camp, blazing towards them and winding my tetsubo up for a homerun. I up at them, reinforcing my muscles and swinging for the neck of the first victim. I hit him so hard his head flies off his shoulders, right into the face of the stutterer and knocks him out and using the momentum to kick the other two in the face. They fall down off the battlements and onto their heads, killing them instantly. Good enough.

I look around, seeing no signs of life other than the flickering torch on the boss's house. I sniff, smelling three corpses just lost the fight—their bowels and bladders empty, having lost the energy needed to hold anything back.

I figure that fourth one won't wake up from the concussion and the fall, so I leave him be for now and make my way to the second biggest building.

At the door, I sniff. The stench of unwashed 'men' greets me, but I can't tell too much of the goings-on. I know there's the scent of cloth—some linen, most cotton—and the blades I know they wield. That's pretty much it. I smell no food, no drink. Nothing in this building.

With a nod, I turn the knob as quietly as I can and push the door open.

I peek into the room, finding a single open space. There are futons lain about any and everywhere, all but four occupied. I nod to myself, entering and closing the door behind me as quietly as possible.

A quick headcount gives me forty-five corpses. I can't kill them all in one go, and smashing heads will wake them. Slitting throats is more effective, but Hyuuga's no doubt watching with those eyes of hers—not that I understand that bloodline limit all that well.

So I guess the die is cast. Hmm. Maybe I can jam the door with their blades, so that they can't run? Worth a shot.

I skulk up to the nearest bandit, grabbing the wakizashi at his side. I turn back to the door, wondering how I'm going to pull this off. There isn't anything I can use to jam it, and the door opens towards me. Fine, I'll just lay the blade on the floor with the sharp edge facing inwards. So if they manage to open the door in the dark, they should at least get a nasty surprise.

With the sheath lain aside, and the wakizashi set as an impromptu trap, I start calculating odds and times. Forty-five skulls to bash, set up roughly in four rows—one along each row. It'll take less than a minute before the stench of emptying bowels wakes the light sleepers. They're likely to start complaining about the stench, so that should give me a heads up… but if they understand too quickly, then they'll smell of cortisol—the distress hormone in humans.

Okay. So if I take out those that wake up, I should be fine. But the stench in this enclosed space will 'deafen' my nose, so to speak. That makes this trickier.

Oh well. Just start caving in skulls and see where that gets you, Aya.

I move to the bandit who's missing his wakizashi. With an over the shoulder swing, I ram my tetsubo's tip into his forehead. The snap of bone reverberates through the room.

Nothing. No movement, no cortisol. The corpse starts spasming, the bowels and bladder leaking already. Shit. One of the bandits shifts, already smelling it. I dash for that one, raising my tetsubo and smashing the tip in his face.

Again the sound of bone and tissue snapping under the blunt force reverberates through the room.

I go about playing a game of whac-a-bandit. Any that moves, I dash for them and slam them into the shinigami's _loving_ embrace.

Thirty-five bandits left. Two stir at the same time at opposite sides of the room. I dash for the closest first, smashing his face before about-facing and dashing for the second.

Thirty bandits left. None stir for once, so I just pop the two nearest. Another stirs, I dash for that one.

Twenty bandits left. A group starts stirring. Shit, we're into the bonus round. I dash for the group of three closest to each other.

"Kami, Ichiro! Do you always gotta—"

I dunno, I don't want to know. He got whacked, that's all that matters. Do I lose points for letting him make noise? I'll make sure to ask.

Fifteen bandits left. It's getting hard to focus with the overwhelming shit smell. That these men can sleep with the stench says a lot about them. One of them pukes, waking him up. He pukes again before I make it to him, the retching sound and the stench of bile seems to stir something in the remaining assholes.

I mean, seriously? Bone breaking is unfamiliar, but puking strikes a nerve? What's that about?

It can't be helped. So I jus—

"What the fuck?!" The last mile is always longest, I guess.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I stand outside the boss's house. I smell like I swam in raw sewage, so stealth is not an option. This might well be a fight.

I take the torch and toss it to the ground away from the house—I don't want to torch the place before I get all the 'goodies' Hyuuga wants me to find.

Entering the house, I find the most disturbing signs of unfair wealth distribution. I can't smell worth a damn, but I see stacks upon stacks of weapons, of trunks, of candle holders, of jewellery, of fancy looking boxes. This place is… a storage of sorts, keeping everything well away from the 'curs' he 'employs'.

I'll sort through all of that later. For now, I need to find the boss and I need to incapacitate him. He might have useful information, after all.

There are three doors. One to the back, one to either side. I go left first, quietly opening the door. Bathroom, complete with toilet and what looks like a working shower. Asshole. I go right, finding stairs leading down into a cellar. I'll check that out later.

I go to door number three, finding a bedroom. In the centre, there's an opulent four-poster bed, complete with mosquito net. Wow. Flaunt it if you got it, I guess.

I enter the room, closing the door behind me. I don't want to go straight for him—I need to know what I'm dealing with first. So I climb the wall, crawling over the ceiling to get closer to him. When I'm right above him, I study him through the net.

He's stirring, no doubt smelling the stench that clings to me. With no time to waste, I drop, aiming the tip of my tetsubo for his right shoulder.

The net doesn't even slow me down.

The man's eyes fly open. His gaze meets mine.

His mouth opens, but my tetsubo connects first.

A wailing shout erupts from him, almost downing out the snapping of bone and the collapse of the supports on the bed. I reinforce my leg muscles, jumping right back up at the ceiling and clinging to it. He starts flailing, crying out for backup that will not come.

Hmm. Should I knock him out? He's going to be a risk otherwise, and jutsus are forbidden.

I start crawling around on the ceiling, peering down at him so I'll see if he reaches for anything to pelt at me. His eyes are wide, his mouth even wider. He's in shock, seemingly unable to form a coherent thought.

"W-wolf… d-d-demon," he manages at long last. Hmm? Whatever. "Wh-wh-what h-have you d-d-d-done with m-my m-m-men?"

"I don't answer to prey," I sneer, still crawling around. He whimpers like a little bitch, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. Seriously? Wow. What a pussy.

I drop down again, smashing my knee into his solar plexus. His face goes full red, his eyes bulging and the air flying out of his lungs. He passes out soon after.

Well, that was fun. I grab him by the collar and start dragging him out, mosquito net and all. I'd better get that other asshole, too. I'm pretty sure he's still alive.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Well done," Hyuuga praises. I leave contestants one and two in the middle of the camp, shaking off the bad vibes this place will give me by morning. "You followed the plan to the T. You kept two prisoners for interrogation. And you weren't injured."

"My nose disagrees," I complain. "Can I wash-down? Please?"

"Go ahead. You can use the shower inside if you want," she offers smiling. I nod, strolling back into the boss's building. I head right into the shower, and turn it on. I let the water claim me, clothes and all. I take the soap on offer and wash down every inch of me. I don't care if it'll leave a trace, it won't smell like shit.

I don't dry off, choosing to stroll through the house and out to Hyuuga. "Alright, bandits are handled. Now what?"

"Now you collect the loot. There's a safe in the cellar, and you saw quite a collection of kimonos, jewellery, and weapons. Pick what you desire. And we'll leave." We're basically burgling the burglars. That's cold. But it's also not my problem.

"The only things worth taking are in that house?" I ask, pointing at the boss's house. You can never be too sure.

"Yeah, pretty much. Unless you want the blades they wield?" Works for me.

So let's see. Jewellery is only worth its sale price, and I don't feel like bartering that. Low priority. Blades and weapons are more up my alley, but there's still that safe she mentioned. Better check that first.

I head down into the cellar, finding a room full of jars, and a single safe, as promised. Hmm. Number dial safe, with a single knob and a single handle to pull it open. It's about a metre tall, equally wide and deep. It might hold quite some loot in it, or it might be Hyuuga teasing the shit out of me and it's empty—not entirely impossible.

I try turning the knob, hoping the boss was a fool. I pull, but nothing happens. Oh well. I'll ask Hyuu—

"Give me a minute, I get it open," Hyuuga announces she's right behind me.

"Jump scares aren't funny," I drone, annoyed with her and my elevated heart rate. She doesn't even answer me, turning the dial this way and that before turning the knob and opening the safe without an issue.

She gets out of the way, letting me look for myself? Not sure what to make of that. Still, I push the weighted door open all the way, finding a stack of manila envelopes, each quite thick from whatever lies inside.

I grab one in the middle, opening it and peering inside. Stacks of notes. I take one out, curious. Five-hundred Ryou notes, a stack as thick as my wrist. Oh, fuck yeah! I'm taking this shit! I put the stack back in the envelope, putting the envelope back in its place.

I unseal the scroll sensei gave me, unsealing one of the empty bags and laying it on the floor. Every envelop is opened, checked, confirmed it has stacks of either five-hundred or thousand Ryou notes, and gets put in the bag. Once the safe is empty, I reseal the bag and the scroll into their rightful places.

"Dear Kami-sama. Today is a good day. Sincerely, one happy little Aya."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Two bags get stuffed with katanas. Another one with wakizashis. Three more get tantos, kodachis, and a collection of blades like the boss had—which Hyuuga blithely points out are called trench knives. Another five bags get stuffed with kimonos, even though I ditched the fancy boxes to save space. The jewellery just doesn't tickle my fancy, but Hyuuga argues it would sell for a decent price even in Konoha. So why not, another bag gets stuffed with that. That's all they had that caught my eye, so fuck the rest of it.

With the sun just starting to rise, we scale the wall for the last time and leave that place. It really wasn't all that interesting. But I'm quite happy about it all the same.

"This is a good tactic to remember. Sometimes you have to pose as a merchant for one reason or another, and no one misses bandits," Hyuuga explains sagely. I shrug, unsure what to make of that. I'm quite happy with the haul, but I can't imagine myself doing this too often.

"Right. Bandit camp. Forest survival. Stealth. We're ahead of schedule." Oh, so there **is** a plan. "There's been reports of a corporate giant making shady moves on the east coast. We're going to start looking into that."

 _Sigh_.

"It's near the Land of Water. And given our lack of intel on Hidden Mist, it might well mean running into rogues. We'll deal with any situation on a case by case basis. Do not engage without my permission. And do not leave my side under any circumstance. Understood?"

"Nn," I noise, nodding. Why do I get the impression this is going to suck?

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 11_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: A bit on the short side, but given it's two on one day? I trust you guys don't mind ^_^_**


	12. A glimpse of passion

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 12 – A glimpse of passion**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

In the distance I see… a port town. A city, really, stretching from the strip of blue on the edge of the horizon, to just short of a kilometre in front of us. And it goes from horizon to horizon, right to left. This is the kind of place one goes to when they want to get lost in the crowds.

"Welcome to the port city of Saimogo," Hyuuga announces. "We're going to get ourselves a room, and I'm going to start teaching you about infiltrating the dregs of society."

And like it's the most natural thing in the world, she unseals a cloth and a little container. Her forehead protector gets sealed away, revealing a green seal on her forehead with a swastika. The cloth covers her forehead and is wrapped around her hair. And the container is popped open, revealing coloured contact lenses.

In less than a minute, she goes from Hyuuga Hitomi to a brown-eyed nobody. "Your name is Mitsu. I am Kara," she informs me, handing me the little container. I blink, peering into it and finding another pair of those coloured contacts—green this time.

I take out one, moving my glasses up and out of the way as I poke the rubbery feeling thing into my eye. I blink away the tears, reaching for—

My left eye can't focus with my glasses on. Curious, I raise my glasses, finding the world still half in focus, if the mirror image of with my glasses on. These contact lenses are prescription, and the strength I need to see.

Hyuuga, you have so much fucking explaining to do when this is over.

I poke the second lens into my eye, sealing my glasses away along with my forehead protector.

"These lenses are safe to keep in for up to a week. We're only going to be in town for a few days, so we should be fine. Just let me do the talking, and be sure you act as gender neutral as possible. They'll take you for a guy, and that's what we want." I huff, but don't comment.

Given my pants are snug, I'm not sure how many people will fall for the 'guy' thing. Guys tend to have at least a _little_ bulge down there.

Still, whatever. It's your thing, 'Kara'.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Walking through the streets, I find sign after sign of two distinct worlds colliding in broad daylight. On the one side is a festival full of bright colours and games and happy tidings, where bright smiles and excited proclamations of who's 'the strongest' or 'the fastest' or 'the best shot' are commonplace. On the other, there are the shadows lurking just on the edge of awareness, where tense glares and mute warnings of whose territory you've just entered are par for the course.

This is a city caught between two extremes. A city with a bustling port, thriving casinos, and a never-ending array of fun times. Yet it's a city where I smell more chuunins and jounins that bear no markers of loyalty to any village, country, or organization, than I smell civilians. Shinobi, without a doubt, that seamlessly blend into the crowds and are one with the shadows.

Shinobi that smell of Stone, of Mist, of Leaf, of Sand—curiously no Cloud—and of a dozen minor villages I can't even identify by scent. Shinobi that bear no scent at all—those are the ones I make mental notes of, given they would be the more dangerous of the bunch. Shinobis that only ever travel in pairs, much like 'Kara' and me.

I smell pairs whose scents are so intermingled that they could only be lovers, and the matches are as varied as the shinobi and kunoichis themselves. I see straight couples, gay couples, couples consisting of three or more individuals, light- and dark-skinned matched and mismatched as they please, tall and short, young and old—or 'old' for shinobi, at least—and rich and poor.

There seems to be a couple among the shinobi population here to represent every plausible combination of any given factors imaginable. And yet, if not for my sense of smell, I would never have guessed any of them to be anything but festival goers out to have a good time.

'Kara' takes me from one stall to the next. We ogle the stuffed animals on sale, the food stalls, we glance at the games—we agree that it isn't worth getting so close to the overdose of testosterone trying to out-alpha each other at inconsequential games—and we…

"Ooh, cute masks," I coo, pointing at a stall selling porcelain masks. There are a few that remind me of her Anbu mask, but she doesn't seem to fancy any buying one. Still, they're cute.

I drag her to a stall that sells fortune telling origami—a thousand Ryou for a turtle to represent fortunes of employment, two thousand for a swam to represent fortunes of love. I don't really believe in this kind of thing, but I buy a swan all the same.

"Don't look for love among the stars, it's the gentle hand tugging you down to earth that deserves your time," I read aloud, blushing at how uncanny that is—given how Hyuuga's been the one constantly tugging me back down to earth. She rolls her eyes, but says nothing.

The next stop is a confectionery stall, where 'Kara' buys me an almost unhealthy stash of everything involving chocolate—enough that I'm handed six of those dainty little pastry bags for our haul. I make sure to give her a peck on the cheek in thanks, though her suddenly rosy cheeks is more of a you're-welcome than whatever words she mutters.

"We should get you a teddy bear," she announces, her whole face turning a deeper pink. I beam, finding whatever power she's given me over is quite to my liking. And she hasn't once complained I've gone girly-girl on her.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Our waitress shows us to an out of the way table in a dark corner, she offers us our menus and asks if we want something to drink while we decide. 'Kara' orders a pot of oolong tea—she's more of a traditionalist, it seems.

The table is round, with a sofa curving around it. We pile our bags onto the table, along with the over-sized teddy bear she got me—a grey, furry one with big yellow eyes and a toothy grin that reminds me of a wolf. I slip into the sofa, scooting over to make space for her.

While she's sliding in beside me, I look around. We have a perfect view of the stage from here, and a few of the tables in front of us, but the stage lights are so bright that they bathe the other patrons in shadows.

I find that to my liking.

I unseal my scroll, unsealing an empty bag and start stuffing all our things into it. Everything fits, but the teddy bear, so she gets a bag of her own—that leaves me with fifteen still empty bags, more than enough. Once both bags and the scroll itself are sealed away, I sidle over to 'Kara', wanting to feel her warmth. I do make a mental note to pig out on all those chocolates, seeing as I don't know how long they'll last in the seal.

I pull down my mask, tugging on her arm to make her lean closer to me. "Thank you," I murmur right into her ear, so only she'll hear me, and kiss her on the cheek. A chaste kiss, to be sure, but my lips enjoy the feel of her skin, my nose enjoys breathing her in, so it turns into a lingering kiss all the same.

She turns to me just as I pull back. There's… something in her eyes. Something I can't quite identify. She leans in, trying to reach my ear. "You're worth it," she murmurs, teasing a hot blush out of me. Not just for her words, but because of the angle her warm breath kissing every inch of skin I'd exposed by lowering my mask.

I shiver, deciding I like the feeling too much to be healthy just now. The urge to feel her lips against mine is starting to overwhelm me, so I pull up my mask, not wanting to risk another exchange like that.

I start perusing the menu, wondering what to order. Wondering what her lips taste like. Those lips now curling up into a smile as she pretends to read her menu. Those pink, plump lips forming words that don't seep past the haze I find myself in.

"Mitsu?" There's a weight on my forearm, and a warmth to compound it. I shake myself out of my stupor, wondering at how shallow my breathing had become.

"N-nn?"

"I feel like having the salmon. What about you?" A decidedly pink fish…

Okay, Aya. You need to slow the hell down. This isn't like Kiyoko and Hatsue's first date. She isn't ordering that as a vague innuendo meant to make me think about her enjoying the taste of fi…

I feel myself growing warm, moist. Accompanied by… an urge, a need to touch her, to be touched by her. To be touched in ever increasingly intimate ways, to feel her soft lips exploring me—just like with Hatsue and Kiyoko.

DAMN IT, AYA! For fuck's sake. Focus!

"I-I th-th…" I take a deep breath, trying to calm my erratic, thumping heart. "Chicken." I manage it without a stutter, but I find myself wondering if I shouldn't order seafood as well, to show I'm not against whatever plausible offer she just made. Or at least order something that doesn't paint me as 'too chicken' to make a mo…

My cheeks are aflame with the hottest blush I've ever been graced with. It's a good thing my mask is up.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Mitsuki turns from Kazue, her cheeks flushed and eyes wide from shock. He just confessed to her, asked her to run away from their feuding families with him so they can start a family together as 'husband' and wife.

Given it's a geisha tea house, there are only actresses. So Kazue is played by a woman with humble breasts, to not make her sex too obvious.

I find myself riveted by the tale their forbidden love, almost a Romeo and Juliette story. Hopefully, theirs will have a happier ending.

Mitsuki smiles, biting her lip out of nervousness but unable to fight the smile hard enough. Kazue comes to her, gently tugging on her shoulder as a clear request not to turn from him. She can easily fight him if she wants to—she doesn't want to. She turns to him, gazing up into his eyes.

Her nervousness falls away, leaving only desire in her gaze. She yearns for her Kazue, yearns for him to take her into his arms and never let her go.

I grab another piece of chicken, shovelling it into my mouth. I offer 'Kara' a piece too, seeing as I ordered a third helping. She doesn't fight me this time, either.

Her arms snake up Kazue's chest—I feel my chest tingling as I wonder how that would feel—he leans in, his arms wrapping around her waist to pull her into him. The chemistry between them is undeniable. The way she stares at his lips, yearning to taste them one more time. The way he gets lost in her eyes, how his fingertips scrape against her back; ever gentle, but ever needy.

They kiss. And they kiss. And they only stop kissing because they are both smiling, still refusing to back away from one another.

"D'awww," I coo, covering my mouth with my hand to keep my food where it belongs.

Some time later, the now betrothed Kazue and Mitsuki are walking through a busy marketplace. Mitsuki's belly is swollen with child, and he can't seem to stop rubbing it lovingly. He refuses to let her carry so much as a bag, telling her she carries their future already. She rubs her tummy, knowing just what he means.

I fish the plate, looking for another piece of chicken, finding only one. I pinch it between my chopsticks, offering it to 'Kara'. From the corner of my eye, I see her bite it off my chopsticks, already waving a waitress down and motioning for another round. I smile, liking how she takes care of me so effortlessly—as if it's the most natural thing in the world for her.

Mitsuki's in labour, on a bed to one side of the stage. Unlike the typical husband in these stories who paces outside and waits for word, Kazue is at her side, holding her hand through the worst of it. She screams from the pain that contorts her face and has beads of sweat pouring down. He speaks to her in his most soothing tone, telling her how proud he is of her, how much he loves her, and to be strong just a little longer.

With one last mighty roar, the sound of a baby's cry fills the air. Mitsuki groans/sighs, relieved that it's finally over—she looks a mess, but she glows at the sound of her baby's wailing. The midwife wraps something in cloth—likely a doll—and hands it to Kazue.

I lean into 'Kara's warmth, every tender emotion in me so intense that I cry a little. Her arm slithers around my shoulder, tugging me deeper into her warmth. I grab the dessert bowl filled to the brim with chocolate ice cream, scooping a little into my mouth before I offer 'Kara' her fair share.

There's something different.

I feel the coldness of the ice cream—something I enjoy when it's hot out. Only this time, there's also the fullness of the whipped cream. The sweetness of the milky chocolate. The slight bitterness of the chocolate cookie crumbles mixed in.

It's muted, as if a sound travelling across a vast distance to reach me. But it's there. I taste it.

"Why are you crying?" 'Kara' asks, almost as if she knows it isn't the sight of Mitsuki breastfeeding her daughter for the first time.

"Th-the ice cream…" I murmur, scooping up another serving and offering it to her. "It t-tastes good."

Not missing a beat, she orders another serving for us—assuring the waitress that we already have the one spoon we need.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Thank you for coming. We hope you enjoyed the show," our waitress coos and bows to us. "Please come again any time. We have a different lineup every week!"

"We most certainly will," 'Kara' assures her. "And the food was excellent, wasn't it Mitsu?"

"Nn!" I noise, beaming. Not that I have a frame of reference to fall back on, but it was yummy all the same.

We say our goodbyes, and make our way into the rapidly darkening streets. I think our inn is to the right, but we go left all the same. I don't care too much—I trust her. That I smell dirt and grime doesn't bother me too much. Nor does the scent of booze and sex.

We walk through a street with neon signs everywhere. Ladies this, titties that. Guys are all chuckling to their buddies, some start bragging about which 'whores' they already banged. None of it bothers me. My apartment is in the red light district in Konoha—nothing to see here.

It's when we start walking into seedier and seedier looking characters that I start getting nervous, but they all smell civilian. Women start 'flaunting their wares' in the streets, calling me 'handsome' and 'cutie'. I shake my head, wondering why they bother.

'Kara' leads me into a hole in the wall called 'No Dice'. A bar that reeks of cigarette smoke and people who've had a few too many. There are a few rough characters at the bar, but they don't even turn to acknowledge us.

We take the table in the corner, away from the crowd. I sniff, filtering out the duds—those idiots by the bar are civilians, the group over in the corner as well. It's only this group to one side.

Four shinobi, each with a Mist forehead protector with a strike through it. The big bad has the lower half of his face bandaged, his headband kept at an odd angle—I guess his sense of fashion is complete shit. Black sleeveless outfit, and striped grey 'handing sleeves'? Seriously bad sense of fashion. The only redeeming feature is the broad sword that looks bigger than 'Kara'. He smells strongly of water chakra, jounin without question.

The next one that strikes me as dangerous is the gorgeous looking female of the group. Long, black hair, with a white bun holder. Pinstripe outfit stopping at the knees. Green haori jacket over it. And a long cloth obi belt holding it in place. Her nails are kept short, painted the same green as her jacket. Her gaze is on me, but I can't bring myself to care. She smells of high chuunin, water and air chakra… and another scent… like a snowstorm.

The next pair, they look like a sack of rice is smarter. Long, spikey black hair, reaching their shoulder blades, I suppose. Beady little eyes that seem perpetually wide with surprise. And the lower half of their face covered by cloth masks. Their forehead protectors remind me of oni—ogres, demons, whatever, they look stupid with horns 'growing' out of their skull.

"Mitsu?" I turn to 'Kara', wordlessly asking what the issue is. "It's rude to stare." I raise an eyebrow, wondering what she means. I was studying the only group in here worth a damn, that isn't staring.

Still, whatever. A waitress comes over to us, her shirt cut so low it's impossible not to stare at her cleavage. 'Kara' orders two bottles of sake, but I'm not sure why. Sake smells funny.

It's not a minute later that one of the stupid brothers storms over to our table. He stops well within Hyuuga's personal bubble, slamming his hands on the table in front of her—the loud thud reverberating through the room and drawing everyone's attention. This bitch dies.

Hyuuga grabs me by my collar, pulling me back into my seat. "Is there a problem, rogue?"

"Yeah, there's a problem." No shit. You're WAY too fucking close to Hyuuga! That's what the kami-damned problem is!

"Mitsu," Hyuuga pulls back even harder on my collar. I bite back a growl, even as I glare at the corpse on a timer. The only reason I'm not fighting Hyuuga is because she's holding me with her injured arm. Otherwise she knows I'd have killed him already.

"Meizu. Those two are out of your league," the sole jounin of their group drawls. I sniff, memorizing this one's scent. The second Hyuuga falls asleep… his ass is mine.

"Mitsu," Hyuuga soothes, her fingers rubbing the base of my neck to calm me down. "Look, I don't know what has your panties in a bunch. But I can't hold her back forever."

I smirk, my eyes crinkling up to show how much I enjoy her saying that. I guess acting all girly did more than annoy her, it forced her to change her plans.

"Do yourself a favour. Sit down. Have a drink on me. And we'll pretend this never happened." I frown, my eyes boring into the corpse that is still WAY too fucking close to her. I'm not letting this go, Hyuuga. Not as long as he still breathes.

"Che," he snorts, turning around and storming back to his table. "Ain't worth the trouble."

Ain't. Worth. The trouble?

I mov—

Hyuuga kisses my ear. "So protective," she murmurs, her nose trailing along my cheek and looping back at the chin along my jawline before she kisses me on the neck. "Let it go? For me?"

I turn to her, looking at her like she's lost her damn mind! That piece of shit just got too close to my injured ma… p-packmate!

She studies my lips, her breath warm and enticing, even through my mask. "Please?"

I sigh, rolling my eyes as I settle down, not paying the retreating fuckwad another glance. I can already track him anywhere in this fucking city, so I don't need to see what he's doing.

Hyuuga hooks a finger under my chin, gently tugging my attention back to her. She leans in, kissing me full on the lips—barely more than a peck and through the fabric of my mask, but it's still my first kiss. We're going to have to do an encore later, sans mask, so I can say it's a memorable one.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Things settle down for a while. Our sake is brought to us, and 'Kara' pours my first saucer. With little more than a shrug, I pull down my mask and grab the saucer like she does—pinching my thumb and index fingers together and holding the little saucer on the circle I create.

She blows gently, sipping. So I blow gently and sip. It's warm, but the burning in the back of my throat comes from something else. It's sort of sweet, but mostly just bitter. I can't say I like it too much. Still, she ordered it for me, so kanpai!

I sip the saucer empty, letting her refill whenever she pleases.

 **BLAM!**

The door slams open. A group of about fifteen storms in, chasing the pussies at the bar and ordering a round of sake—and make it snappy!

I shrug, not seeing them as my problem. I carefully pick up the saucer again, sipping the nasty tasting stuff until it's gone.

One of the shit for brains of their group starts looking around. His gaze lands on the almost too pretty chick in the Mist group, but the jounin is in his way so he chooses life and looks away. Then his eyes fall on Hyuuga. He grins, smug as shit.

I glance at Hyuuga, but she just pours me another saucer full and shakes her head, no; _don't get involved_. I snort, scooping up the saucer and sipping away.

"Oi! How mudge wuz uur take?!" one of the brain-dead throng demands, already half drunk. I sneer, but don't get involved. Hyuuga may be injured, but she's still an Op—she knows how to handle situations like this.

"None o' yur bidness, tha's 'ow much," the puckered asshole ready for me to fuck up announces, flicking his eyes to his buddy in annoyance. His gaze returns to Hyuuga all too soon, and this time it's accompanied by his drinking straight from the bottle.

"Heh," the Mist Jounin noises, sounding amused. "This could get interesting." Probably not. If I unseal my tetsubo, those assholes won't last a minute.

And here he comes. Mister hot shit on a silver platter. "Kara," I growl, unwilling to back down a second time in less than an hour.

"Fine, but no contact." I grin like the Cheshire cat.

Hmm, but what to do to him. So many delicious things genjutsu can do to the human mind. Ooh! I got it! He thinks he's hot. So death by heatstroke sounds good to me. Given the state of his buddies, they'll think he was trying some new drug they can't detect.

I mould the chakra I need for the Demonic Illusion—Icy Heatstroke. I focus the needed chakra into my eyes. And I growl at the fucktard.

He glares at me, unimpressed. We'll see about that, pumpkin. With barely a spike in my chakra, I flood the needed sequence right into his vision.

His eyes go wide, no doubt finding himself in an arctic wasteland for no readily identifiable reason. His brain will think he's freezing, so his body constricts the blood vessels in his limbs to conserve warmth. Only, the vision doesn't change, so he slowly starts shutting down all non-vital organs, then shutting down less vital organs, until at last concentrating all blood flow—and therefore warmth—into the heart, lungs, and head.

Seeing as the room is actually quite warm, and his body is conserving every joule of energy offered and focusing that energy and heat into the three most fragile organs of the human body?

He starts shivering, then shaking. His teeth start chattering, and froth starts forming. He starts violently puking, shaking even worse than before. His body can't make up its mind—is he freezing to death, or is he having a heatstroke?

I grin, quite enjoying the evening show. Hyuuga refills my saucer, raising hers for a toast. "Peace at last, kanpai!"

"Kanpai!" I agree, tapping my saucer against hers and sipping away like someone isn't dying in the most exquisitely excruciating way.

"This party's dead. Let's go," Hyuuga suggests, clinking her saucer beside the bottle. I shrug, not caring. We leave some folded up notes on the table and stroll out like nothing happened.

A low whistle comes from the Mist group. "He's right, Meizu. She'd have mopped the floor with you," the other stupid brother announces, awe in his tone.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it back to our room, shutting the door behind us. There isn't much to this place. A single room with paper screen 'walls' and futons rolled up in one of the draws along the wall. The shared toilet is down the hall, the communal bath is in the basement.

I figure we have an hour, maybe two before those Mist rogues track us down 'to talk'. There's a chance they'll figure we're too much trouble, but I have my doubts—rogues tend to band together, and we show no clear allegiance to anyone, so they'll try to recruit us.

Before that happens, though…

"So… care to explain that sad stolen kiss?" I drone, my eyebrow slightly elevated. She blushes, looking away from me.

"Wh-what's to explain?" she tries. I take a step towards her, glad she doesn't react badly to it. I don't want to overwhelm her, after all. I want my encore.

"Taking a girl's first kiss, and making it such a bad one? Lots to explain," I press. I have no idea why I'm being so brazen about this, but I can't bring myself to care. "So either you explain, or you come here and give me a proper first kiss."

I should feel nervous. I should be shitting myself. Instead, all I can think about is wanting to taste her lips, wanting to have a kiss worth remembering instead of the shut-up kiss I got.

"Th-that's the sake talking," she tries, blushing even more. Already tired of her bullshit, I pull down my mask.

"Then why'd I get so defensive when that Mist guy came close to you? Why do I always feel so comfortable with you?" Connect the dots, damn it! I like you, okay! I like-like you!

"Because you see me as pack," she tries. And under normal circumstances she'd be right.

"So I'd let Uzumaki kiss my neck? My ear? I'd share my chocolate with him? I'd feed him with my chopsticks?" I hammer it home. Her eyes go wide with shock, before softening. She smiles.

I saunter up to her, wrapping my arms around her middle. "I'm protective of you, because I care about you… because I… I l-like you." Kami-damn! Sake must be liquid confidence or something! I'd never have the guts to say any of this otherwise.

"I'll tell you what. If you repeat that in the morning? You have a deal." I smile. A soft, warm smile.

I'm going to remember she kissed me either way.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Warmth.

Hyuuga's scent. Her warmth. I nuzzle a little deeper into it.

…

Other scents. Shinobi.

Hyuuga's heartbeat. Steady, calm. She isn't worried.

I can go back to sleep, then.

"Mitsu?" Oh, no. I'm not getting caught up in whatever you have planned. "I know you're awake. We have guests."

"Then tell 'em fuck off," I grumble, rubbing my nose deeper into her warmth… and I'm half sure that's her breast. No harm, no foul—and she certainly isn't complaining about it.

"Do you really want me talking to Mist rogues alone?" I sniff, smelling that asshat I still have to turn inside out. I tense, but otherwise stay where I am. "They might even have a job for us."

I grumble, opening my eyes. All I see is her boob. Sure, there's technically still her shirt and bra in the way. But still. There's another boob smushed against the side of my face, and a hell of a view in front of me. Not a bad way to wake up.

I lean back, finally realising I slept sitting up and in her arms. I blink, unsure what to make of that. Then I look around. It's dark. Middle of the night, more than likely.

I shimmy out of her arms, plopping down next to her. Then, with all the grace of a new-born deer, I turn around to face four amused-looking pissants. "Well, this was fun. Don't call us, we'll call y—"

"Mitsu," Hyuuga chides, more amused than anything. "Meet Momochi Zabuza, formally of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen. His apprentice Yuki Haku. And his subordinates Gouzu and Meizu."

 _Sigh_. "Whoa. Really?" I drone, clearly being sarcastic. "What a pleasure it is to meet you. Truly an honour."

Momochi chuckles, quite entertained it seems. "Girl's got balls, I'll give her that."

I feel my chest, almost like I'm searching for something. "No…" I grope between my thighs. "Nope. No boobs, no balls. Sorry, guy. Just a flat-chested chick." He just loses his shit over that—a dry and almost menacing laugh, but laughter all the same.

"You've got taste, Hyuuga," he eventually gets out. I shrug uncaring what he thinks he knows. "And brains. Snagging a Namiki? Damn. Some people get all the luck."

"You're a jounin for a reason," Hyuuga intones. "But more to the point. What's this job you're talking about?" I yawn to show how much I care about all of this.

"Gato of Gato Corporation hired us to kill a bridge builder. Word is the mark's on his way to Konoha to hire a team." He pauses, likely checking our reaction to the news, to see if we're loyal or something. I raise an eyebrow, motioning for him to get on with it. "He only has seventy-five thousand Ryou. That translates to a low C-Rank for a month, more or less. So we're talking a genin cell. At best with a jounin, at worst a chuunin."

"Fascinating," I drone, unimpressed. "And the reason you can't handle this is…?"

"Because this is just one step. If you two can show your mettle, I might hire you for more jobs in the future," he argues. I shrug, seeing logic in that.

"I dunno, Kara. We've been avoiding shinobi," I offer my piece, scratching my cheek.

"True. And getting mixed up with another rogue with Hunter Ops on his tail is all kinds of dangerous," Hyuuga agrees, shrugging and shaking her head to tell him no. "Sorry, Momochi. You double the trouble, but there's no talks of doubling the reward. You're just not worth that kind of investment. Simple calculation."

"That's fair. So what makes it worth your while?" he presses. I narrow my eyes, wondering where this is going.

"To tip Konoha off that we're not just on a training mission before we get out of the Land of Fire? Psh. More than most countries can afford."

"We're heading to Wave. We have a base set up there. No nearby shinobi villages. And I might be tempted to give you each a team to train."

"Hmm?" I turn to Hyuuga. Well, that does defeat every point we've offered. We'd be out of the country, we'd have a secure location, and we'd have numbers we currently lack.

"Tempting. Tempting," Hyuuga admits. Oh for fuck sake! We're not even rogues! I'd never leave Lady and Uzumaki to fend for themselves! "What about pay?"

"Based on performance. And only for missions carried out. I'm gearing up for something big, and I need resources for that."

"A coup. In Mist," I drone, shaking my head. He smirks—I can tell by the subtle movements of his facial bandages and the amusement in his eyes. "You know we're not getting involved in that."

"Didn't ask you to. I'm asking for muscle and trainers for those under me. I can't train 'em all." That's true. If absurdly sad.

"Just so I know how fucked we'd be if we sign on. Dumb and dumber there," I point at the stupid brothers, "how do they rank among your supposed army?"

He sighs, long, tired, and worn out. "Third and fourth."

"Nope." I'm not even considering that. "That against Hidden Mist's Anbu and Jounins? You're leading lambs to the slaughter."

"Which is why I need resources to hire other mercs. Which is why I need my people trained while I'm out recruiting," he explains calmly. He understands the risks. He understands the death toll he faces. Yet he risks it?

"You have a better chance taking your men and joining another village," I point out. He shrugs, not bothering to deny it. That means: "It's personal."

He shrugs, not answering. But it doesn't matter, the truth is plain as day: the village could burn for all he cares about it, he has it out for the Mizukage.

"We'll think about it. We'll contact you in Wave if we're interested."

"How about I show you where the recruits train," he presses. "You two'd be the strongest by far, so it's not like they'd pose a challenge. That way you can take your time thinking about it, get to know the people I'd put you in charge of, and you'd have a secure location to rest your head at night."

Well, fuck. That sounds like a solid plan.

"And how do you know we won't slaughter them and take whatever they have stored?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know you, Namiki. But I know you all the same," he says, shrugging. I blink, trying to make sense of that.

"These are kids. Orphaned by the Bloodline Purge," I drone. It isn't hard to figure out, really. He knows of my heritage, that means it's likely he knows how Namikis view loyalty to the pack. If I truly went rogue, it'd mean that there was no pack in Konoha for me. He's hoping to get me emotionally attached to those orphans, to make me want to train them like I train so they'll stand a chance.

Wow. That's a fucked up and twisted-as-hell means to guilt me into this shit. I mean, even sensei wasn't this bad.

"That sounds fair. We weren't planning on stay here very long anyway," Hyuuga agrees. "What do you think, Aya?"

"Oh, so I'm Aya now," I drone, rolling my eyes. "You need to make up your mind what to call me."

She gives me a deadpan look, shaking her head.

"It can't hurt to look," I offer shrugging. "But I'm not wearing these bullshit lenses." I happen to like my glasses, thank you.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 12_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: ^_^  
_**


	13. A touch of insanity

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 13 – A touch of insanity**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Annoying. The entire walk out of Saimogo. The four hours of being led in circles—whether to lose trackers or to confuse my already dismal sense of direction is up for debate. The six hours in all out of sprint. And these last forty minutes dashing up a river to mask our scent. The entire fucking time those dumb shits have been gawking at me!

That they smell like week-old gyms socks, are sweating like pigs, and are looking paler and paler… well, they're not impressing me with that shit.

"Momochi! Your dipshits need _another_ break!" I give him the heads up. Sure, the pace Momochi is setting is gruelling, but fuck! I'm a genin with less than two months under my belt! And I'm keeping up! The pussies.

"Meizu, Gouzu. Start heading out," he orders instead. "Let's see if Konoha knows how to train people."

With that he starts body flickering like his tail's on fire. Hyuuga and I keep up without too much effort, though. He has to be testing me, because there's no way I should be able to keep up with him if he was half serious.

It's another half hour before we stop. Momochi turns to me, weighing me, measuring me, and being unable to make sense of either result.

"You're suppressing your chakra," he guesses.

"Maybe I'm just weak," I drone. Whether I tell him the truth or not, he'll think I'm lying.

"Bullshit," he thinks I'm lying. I'm really not. I'm weak as fuck. "Hyuuga, what's her deal?"

"Hmm? Well, she's not weak, that's for sure. But she has a lot of growing to do," Hyuuga agrees with my assessment, whether she knows it or not.

Get it through your thick skull, Momochi. We don't trust you. So we're not telling you anything important.

"Alright. Then tell me this. How long's she been a chuunin?"

I laugh, shaking my head. "I've been a genin for about two months," I answer, stupidly honesty. He'll never buy it. Genins don't kill people with the ease I've learned to.

"Stop bullshitting me," he demands, half growling.

"I'm really not," I offer with the sweetest smile.

He mutters something under his breath, shaking his head. "Fine. Preferred weapon."

"I'm not sure, really. It could be twin kodachis, or it could be a tetsubo. Or was it twin tantos? No, twin wakizashis! Then again, I really like needles and ninja wire." I could tell him the colour of the sky is blue and he'd doubt me at this point. The vein on his forehead starts throbbing. I grin, enjoying getting under his skin.

"Is there anything else you want to lie about?" he drones, glaring at me.

I tilt my head to one side, blinking as if I'm confused. The advantage of having all my weapons sealed, he can't tell I haven't lied once. Until now. "You're the hottest man on the planet," I deadpan. "I must have you." Yuki's shoulders start shivering—she quite enjoys the scene.

Momochi, however, shakes his head in disgust. He body flickers without another word.

Killjoy.

"So that's why Hyuuga-san asked you to keep quiet in public," Yuki guesses, her eyes twinkling with amusement. I smirk. I was just as sassy during our 'meeting'. "Come. It isn't far now."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We're led to a large wooden wall, easily ten metres tall and surrounded by fifty-metre-tall trees. It looks little different from the typical bandit camp—and almost identical to the bandit camp I cleared out. I never did ask what Hyuuga did with those survivors. Hmm.

Momochi stands at the gate, which opens as we approach. His gaze lingers on Hyuuga—obviously she's more of a threat in his eyes, which is hard to argue against. "I'm going ahead," is all he says, leaving his apprentice and supposed soldiers within our grasp. He plays dice with everyone in his life.

I enter the camp just behind Hyuuga. It's pretty spacious—easily six times larger than the last camp and perfectly circular. The battlements are a little higher, and there are four buildings, each larger than the boss's building last time.

Sniffing, I find the men along the wall are civilians. Those mulling about the courtyard are shinobis, but none would prove a threat, even to me. Genins, the lot of them. Even the ones wearing flak jackets. Muscle tone, on average, is what you'd expect from civilian construction workers.

Everyone here smells of water, some of morning dew. That redhead there smells of fire and earth, and molten earth for some reason. Everyone stops what they're doing, either spying us from the corner of their eye, or full-on staring. I only see guys—why is that?

"Haku-nee! Who's that with you?!" the redhead demands. He's used to getting his way, it seems. The announcement sends the whole camp into a frenzy, everyone is coming to spy the fresh meat—openly this time. Most pour out of the house furthest from the gate, smelling of cooled air and old dust—cellars, no doubt.

Yuki says something vague—I think something about 'prospective recruits', but I don't care enough to listen too closely—before clapping to get everyone's attention. She already had it, so that's wasted energy.

"Listen up, everyone. Hyuuga-san and Namiki-san will be staying here for a few weeks. If you're nice to them, they might help train you." Don't hold your breath, though. One of the flak jacket bearers come towards us. He has short, spiky, black hair and beady eyes, and is utterly unremarkable. "Hyuuga-san. Takibana-san here is in charge of this camp while Zabuza-sama and I are out on missions. Any and all inquiries should be directed to him."

"Nn," Hyuuga noises, nodding. She studies the man for a fraction of a second, before shrugging and deciding he isn't worth a damn. "Just so we're clear. Aya and I may leave any time we wish?"

"Of course, Hyuuga-san," Yuki assures her, smiling brightly. Mm hmm. "And you may also return as you wish." I figured.

"Good," Hyuuga bobs her head, pretending to like the current arrangement. Personally, I think it's bullshit. But then, I never did like people trying to control me.

"Zabuza-sama requests that you each consider taking as little as three genins to train. You may choose any three you wish, and Takibana-san will provide any guidance needed, should you need any suggestions," Yuki tries making this sound as convenient for us as is possible. 'As little as three', that's a standardised fucking team, dipshit. "Now, if you'll excuse me. Zabuza-sama doesn't wish me to dawdle."

With that, the only plausible threat leaves two wolves in a rabbits' den. I shake my head, wondering if those two have a few screws loose—more than a few, given how desperate these genins look now that they understand we might be training them.

"Hyuuga-sama, Namiki-sama. Please, let me assure you that I am at your disposal," Takibana gushes, bowing so low I wonder if he'll be able to stand up again.

"Then we're in agreement." Hyuuga doesn't even spare him a glance, peering instead at the collection of over fifty genins, each sporting a Mist forehead protector with a gash through it. I'm starting to wonder if they cut into it themselves, or if someone does so for them before issuing the kill-me targets literally borne on their foreheads.

I mean, fuck! We're on the coast of the Land of Fire! Any Konoha team that spots them will likely kill them on sight! After all this is quite literally enemy territory for them. Not to mention: illegal, unethical, bad planning and even poorer execution on top of that, and just plain stupid.

"Umm…" Their clothes aren't in the best state either. I see no one with proper leg or hip pouches. Only the chuunins seem to have blades, and frankly I doubt they know how to wield them properly—if they did, their chakra wouldn't smell as wild an uncontrolled as the genins surrounding them. Taking a deep sniff, I smell food, but not enough stores to support this group for longer periods. The rainy season should start in a matter of weeks, and winter not long after that.

Adding that Momochi just sent two weak ass assassins—them being the third and fourth strongest of this kiss-ass group notwithstanding—after a team they haven't identified that could plausibly have a chuunin OR a jounin leader, and that the only person he seems to care about at all is Yuki, who is meant to follow him towards their goal? The same Yuki that he purposely sits beside in rough crowds to fend off unwanted attention. The same Yuki that is perhaps a year older than me. The same Yuki that easily smells of high chuunin, but carries herself as low jounin grade kunoichi. The same Yuki that speaks with confidence towards anyone, but doesn't contradict her 'Zabuza-sama'.

This doesn't even come close to taking into account that he just guided two unknowns into his supposed base—untested and unconfirmed as actual rogues. And that's ignoring how he shrugged off my 'joining another village' suggestion.

He…

He is plotting, using my heritage as a means to an end. But I'm starting to wonder if he doesn't already know we're not really rogues.

Could he intend for me to grow close to at least a few of these people, so I'll take them back to Konoha with me? A few pointed questions should answer that. After all, hunting in winter is a nightmare unless you're a master. Game becomes scarce, and without some serious food stores, your people will starve.

"Question. Hunting rotations. Who does what and when?" I begin.

"Hmm?" Takibana thinks about that. "Well, we usually send out a team of about six every three to four days. It helps us survive while Zabuza-sama gathers resources."

Uh huh. Strike one—no plans in place to survive winter. And Momochi would without a doubt have the knowledge and the skill to feed himself and a select few without too much problems. However, given there's no overt plan in place—or they are smart enough not to talk about it to virtual strangers—I can assume there's nothing in place for a group this large.

"What about other settlements? How far are we from towns, villages, cities?" It's possible the plan is to use the moneys procured to buy the food needed. But that cuts into his plans to hire more mercs, and keeping this many mouths around when so clearly untrained is a bad business model for any self-respecting merc.

"Saimogo is the nearest. Other than that there are a few fishing and farming villages, most of which trade with Saimogo," Hyuuga answers that one. Hmm. Strike two. That means unless Momochi was in Saimogo buying food meant for storage, which is unlikely, given he left immediately and there isn't any sign I can smell of major food stores here, he has no direct plans to keep these people alive for the winter.

"Last question. How do your chuunins learn new techniques?" I press, gazing at Takibana's now clueless look.

"Well," he begins, sweating a little to show he's growing uncomfortable. "Zabuza-sama has a l-library for us, of course."

Strike three. He doesn't plan on making this his army. He wants them out of the conflict altogether. Even if it means Mist loses future potential clans and/or bloodlines. I mean. I can't claim to know if he believes we're here to kill these kids or claim them for Konoha, but either way, he's setting them up to fail in the eyes of Mist's history.

So why is he doing it? Too little information.

"At any rate, Minori-chan here will—" My eyes snap to the violet-eyed redhead staring at me, the shock of her scent drowning out whatever that person is saying. Her eyes radiate the shock I feel, the lack of feeling in her face perfectly mirrors my own.

And just like that… life once again makes decisions for me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I follow Hyuuga, who follows the redhead. I'm too mentally scrambled to speak, too blown away to truly understand what the fuck just walked into my life.

An Uzumaki.

An Uzumaki about my age.

An Uzumaki in a fucking Mist rebel camp.

What's more, she smells of another Uzumaki.

What the fuck?

What the actual fuck!

Even as our footsteps reverberated through the hall as this Uzumaki leads us down into the third cellar of this building, my brain keeps looping over the facts, tripping over them every time.

Two low-born Uzumakis. Trying to work their way up in the Mist civil war.

Mist, Cloud, and Stone were the three villages responsible for the downfall of Hidden Eddies—the sole Uzumaki village. So, unless this is a revenge thing, it makes no sense for them to help Mist.

We stop at a door—random as far as I can tell—and Uzumaki opens it. She walks in first, motioning for us to follow her.

I sniff, identifying five others in the room with her—all female, none of which were topside when we arrived. Hyuuga enters without a care, so I follow her.

Looking around, I can't say I'm too impressed with the room. There are four bunks—two separate stacks, each two high. And there are two futons rolled up in the corner. At just under eight square metres, the room barely has enough room for the six girls, let alone adding Hyuuga and I.

"This is the girls' room," Uzumaki explains, pleased with the situation—though I'll be damned if I understand why. "Please meet—"

Fascinating as their names no doubt are, I don't listen to any of them. I just know there's blue-haired one, a white-haired one, a brown-haired pair of twins, and the last has raven hair.

"I'm Uzumaki Minori, by the way," Uzumaki continues, her eyes on me as she speaks. She's hoping to get a reaction out of me. "My little brother Haruki sometimes comes in here, please don't get freaked out by that. Oh, and Yuki Aomaru, too. He's not into girls, though, so it's not like he's in here to see anything."

I turn to Hyuuga, to ask her something. She doesn't notice me, though. She's too busy studying Uzumaki. The neck-length red hair, how it's straight in some parts, but wild and unruly in others. The violet eyes and bone structure that clearly announce her as a blood relative to 'Sarutobi'-san. She's a bit on the tall side, I guess.

"Aya?" Hyuuga calls me, but her eyes never leave Uzumaki's. I noise to show I'm listening. "Is she…?" Related to Sarutobi-san and my blond idiot?

"Low-born, but yes," I confirm. "You know…?" I'm not killing her or her brother, Hyuuga. Not a chance in any hell.

"Yeah, I know," she assures me, bobbing her head. "You figure out what _his_ angle is?"

Should we be discussing this now? "Mostly. Just not the motivation behind it," I admit.

"What do you want to do?" she asks, finally turning to me. Her face is a blank mask. I sigh, shrugging and shaking my head to tell her I don't have a clue. "They won't survive winter here." I nod, agreeing with her assessment.

I hear sputtering, half-formed protests, and impotent complaints. I ignore them, focusing only on Uzumaki—she looks away, tears in her eyes. She sees the truth, and she understands it.

"You know who I am," I drone, thinking back on Uzumaki's reaction when she met me on the surface, and on stuttering out my name just now. Uzumaki bobs her head, looking back to me. "We're going out hunting in the morning. Will you come with us?"

"I… I can't. I need to take care of Haruki," she grumbles, looking away from me. Is there a longing in her eyes? I narrow my eyes slightly, trying to make sense of her.

"Hmm? So why not bring him and Yuki along?" I press, wondering why she didn't come to that conclusion herself. She fidgets, unable to meet my gaze. "Ah. That makes more sense."

Her chin snaps towards me, her eyes wide with shock. I shrug. Figuring her out isn't too difficult. She barely knows me. No matter that she knows my family has had strong ties with her clan for generations, I am not my family and she is not her clan. I can appreciate that.

"Aya, we have a long day ahead of us," Hyuuga soothes, tugging me to her. I raise an eyebrow. It's noon. Literally the middle of the day. And yet she unzips her flak jacket—which is strange that she wore it through all this crap—and slinks down to the ground against the wall furthest from the door. She beckons to me with a single finger, a teasing smile in her eyes.

I shrug, seeing nothing wrong with snuggling for a bit. Tired or not, snuggling is always what the doctor ordered.

So I straddle her lap, wrapping my arms around her middle.

"Aya?"

"Nn?"

"I need my katana." I shrug, pressing my right index finger against the seal and unsealing it for her. She takes it and my glasses, nudging the side of my head closer to her. "Sweet dreams."

I yawn, wondering if I'm not tired because that shithead woke me up in the middle of the night. The weight of her katana against my shoulder sets me at ease, almost as much as the beating of her heart.

"I feel like fish… and deer kebabs," I murmur, yawning again. "And that rabbit steak we made last time?"

"You still have your chocolate, sweetie," she reminds me. I smile, nodding to show I like that idea. I kiss her neck, smiling when she shivers from it.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Hyuuga wakes me up just after sunset. I unseal our things—hip and leg pouches, my tantos and kodachis, and some rations bars and bottles of water for dinner—and we start going over a rudimentary plan.

Uzumaki and the other girls are all here, as are the younger Uzumaki and a boy that looks almost like Yuki's twin. They're all staring at us, for some reason. I shrug, unsure what to make of any of them.

"Minori got us a map of the surrounding area," Hyuuga begins. I bite into the rations bar, chewing on my meal and the information. "We're going to survey the area. I don't doubt there are quite a few bandit camps around here. We'll spot, scout, and profile each camp. If we discover they're doing illicit activity…" I nod.

We wipe them out and take their shit. I've been down this road with you already.

"If they're marked for death, I give you ten minutes to come up with a plan. We discuss the plan. And you execute. After, you have one hour to sort through everything." I nod, to show I understand. Everyone's eyes are on me, wider than dinner plates. "Questions?"

"No," I mutter, taking another bite.

"Good. Minori and Michiko are both sensors. If anything happens, they will come find us."

"About that…?" I begin, chewing and swallowing. "Doesn't it make sense to make sure they are armed? I mean, running is good, but if something goes down, they might need to defend themselves."

"…" Uzumaki and the others' chins drop. The Yuki boy tries saying something, but I'm not entirely sure what words he thinks are supposed to come out.

"Good point. What do you girls think? Would you feel safer if we gave you blades to defend yourselves with, just in case?" Hyuuga passes the question onto them, smirking. I narrow my eyes, wondering what I'm missing.

"'Safer'?" I grind out. That implies that they feel unsafe. That implies that there are people in this camp that are desperately begging to piss me off. "Who needs killing?"

Yuki giggles. Then he snorts. Soon he's on the ground, holding his sides and laughing his ass off.

The girls smile—whether because they know I'm serious, or they're entertained by Yuki's antics, isn't important.

"Thank you, Namiki-san," Uzumaki says, her eyes smiling and her lips curled upwards. "If you could help us with a few daggers or kunai, we should be fine."

I raise an eyebrow. I wolf down the last of my rations bar, don my glasses, and unseal my two scrolls.

Hmm, let's see. I sealed all the weapons in scroll one. So I unfurl that one. I didn't mark any of the seals, not wanting to figure out how to get ink off if later on. So I unseal the first bag, and zip it open. Hmm…

"Katanas," I grumble. "No good." I zip it closed, sealing it away. The second bag is skipped, I think that one has wakizashis. The third, then? I unseal it and unzip it, peering inside.

"Tantos. Not chakra conducting, I'm afraid. But these should do the trick," I murmur. I take out one for each of them—including the younger Uzumaki and Yuki. "I don't have straps to spare, but you can always use ninja wire if you have." I zip up the bag, sealing it away and unsealing the next bag. I take out a kodachi each of them, as well, sealing away that bag, and unsealing the next.

I peer into this one, wondering what I have in it. "Hmm, nope. Kimonos will do you no good. Where did I put those trench knives?" When the next one is open, I find them. "Ha! I knew I had them somewhere." I set aside a trench knife for each of them each, as well.

"I don't have enough kunais, senbons, or needles to go around. Sorry about that, but bandits tend to not have those in stock." I make a face, but doubt any of them will notice through my mask. "Anyway. It makes more sense if you use the trench knife. You wield it inverted, in an icepick grip. It's great for punching, and designed for stabbing. Don't try any of that pointless slashing shit with it. Unless you can shatter stone, it won't matter."

I seal the bag, roll up my scroll and seal them both scrolls back where they belong.

"Hey, Hyuuga. You still have my wakizashis," I point out. I still don't know why I had to hold onto her katana, or why she wanted my wakizashis.

"Yeah. I figure you have enough blades on you as it is." I shrug, conceding her point. It's not like I'm very efficient with them anyway. "We'll be back." Hyuuga stands, already walking to the door.

The others all just keep staring at the pile of blades sitting on the ground in front of me. I shrug. I figure some of them will have a preference, and there should be more than enough for all of them this way. They can sort out who gets what.

I jump up, trailing after Hyuuga. Hey! We still haven't dealt with that sorry excuse for a first kiss!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Hyuuga puts on 'X' on the map. The first bandit camp we've encountered. The eighth camp, but the first I see with six men inside on spikes, and another eighteen chained against a wall and crying out for mercy as glowing red nails are poked into them. The anguish on their faces is more than obvious, even in the dim light of the campfire in the middle of the clearing.

Most, if not all, have already shit themselves and the scent of cortisol screams at the distressed state.

"This is what you get for telling me not to touch your wife, you piece of shit!" one of the 'men' bellows, ramming his blade through his victim's thigh.

I sniff, studying the collective of scents as best I can. "All civilians. I say I go in with my tetsubo and start cracking skulls," I mutter to Hyuuga.

"You get ten minutes. One second over, and I step in," she mutters right back. I nod, accepting those terms. "Go."

I unseal my tetsubo, body flicker into the clearing. I don't wait for them to notice me. Instead, I body flicker to the asshole brigade nearest the chained victims, and I start swinging.

The first corpse gets my club in the back of his head. He's dead before he hits the ground. The third gets the second's head smashed into his face—knocking one out, but his headless buddy isn't walking away.

"INTRU—"

That one gets my tetsubo right in his chest. Let's hear you scream with a shattered ribcage and fucked up lungs. Asshole.

The twenty other bandits, all wearing 'tough guy' kimonos and some strip of cloth wrapped around their foreheads, start panicking. Blades are unsheathed as they all converge on my location. Less effort for me.

I focus chakra into my arms and chest, sneering as these piss stains try to have their way with me.

There are too many of them. Hyuuga must be nervous.

I mould the chakra I need, focusing it into my voice box. And I growl, steeping them all in my Soothing Touch genjutsu. Most of them fall flat on their faces. Those that don't?

I body flicker to them, thwacking their head over the wall and into the wilderness. Fuck 'em, kami-damned pieces of shit.

The ones that fell, I come back and curb stomp them with my club.

Surrounded by the usual death, decay, and the emptying of bowels, I turn to Hyuuga—standing on the wall, katana drawn and obviously ready to jump in. I smirk, knowing she'll notice.

"How am I doing for time?" I tease. I just cleared the courtyard in less than a minute! I'm damn proud of my work.

"Poorly. You still have three buildings to scout," she snipes.

Nothing but a deadpan glare. "Hmph!" I turn up my nose, turning to building number one. Truthfully, I hadn't even noticed the buildings—I was more focused on stopping the torture. "You get them down, I'll mop up."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Building one. The barracks. It's not so late that everyone's asleep, but it's late enough that they're all laughing and drinking and having a merry old fucking time. They're all lounging around, smacking their bottles together, shouting 'Kanpai!' for any little thing.

"'Ey, slaze bo~oooooy! 'Erry it ap!" one of them bellows, slurring and stumbling over every syllable.

A boy, my age or younger stumbles about, struggling with a five litre bottle of booze. I close the door behind me, curious that no one's noticed me yet. This is just fucking sad.

Oh well. Easier for me.

I walk up to the soon-to-be-corpse nearest me, reinforce my arms and chest once again, and swing my tetsubo right at his nose.

A sickening CRACK fills the room as the body flies into a hornets' nest of his buddies. There are shouts and wails of panic, no one seems to understand what's going on. But they start cursing their 'buddies', already throwing bottles at who they think did that.

Fucking. Idiots.

Kami-sama, could they make it any easier for me?

The boy gets grabbed by his neck, the grabber slurring an accusation—I assume. I body flicker to him, ripping my club through his skull. I grab the boy, tugging him to a corner and upchucking a table as I shove him behind it.

The entire room is one big brawl by now, and no one seems sober enough to notice I already fucked up a few of them.

"I guess it's back to whac-a-bandit," I complain, heaving a sigh. Hefting my club up onto my shoulder, I look around, trying to figure out which skull deserves the next love tap. Seeing nothing that stands out, I just start body flickering into the smaller groups and blazing my weapon through them.

Smashing through skulls, through chests, through two or three of them in quick succession. The more of them I end, the quieter—and smellier—the room gets. Until at last, there's only three people standing.

Me. The boy. And this asinine dipshit that looks around, swaying on his feet, and slurring in the goofiest voice I've ever heard: "I tol' 'em. I did. I sed it. I tol' 'em dey won' like me when I'm angry."

I shake my head. Hopefully that one didn't get a chance to reproduce. Because, seriously?

I stroll up to him, and slam the side of his neck with my tetsubo.

"If assholes like that are the future of humanity?" I shiver at my own words.

Oh well. I'm working against the clock here. I sprint to the kid, making sure to be careful with the questionable liquids on the floor. I grab him by the arm and hoist him up. "Follow me. Keep quiet. And don't try to run."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I drag the leader by the hair. He tries thrashing about, but I already broke both his arms and both his legs. With a careless shunt, he tumbles in Hyuuga's direction.

"That's the one you want. I'll start going through the loot," I inform her. She barely reacts, still hunched over one of the men we saved. "How's he doing?"

"J-just… j-just l-let me die." Well, that answers that.

"I'm sorry," Hyuuga mutters, unsheathing her katana and beheading him in one go. There's a string of corpses, neatly lined up, and all of them beheaded. Not the bandits—these are the men we saved.

To be fair, civilians aren't conditioned to withstand torture. I don't blame them for choosing death.

I go to her, squatting and hugging her from behind. Even as I feel her muscles rippling through as she's cleaning her blade, I sense her distress.

"It might not be much. But you can take it out on the boss over there. Get him to tell you who put them up to this," I soothe.

"I know," she murmurs.

"You ended their suffering, Hyuuga. It's not the same as saving them, but they are grateful all the same."

"I know," she repeats. The tension doesn't leave her.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" I ask, wondering what will do her more good.

"No. The building you just came out of has food stores. Pack as much of it as you can. I'll join you as soon as I get _that one_ to sing for me," she drones. "And the kid you found. Keep 'em close to you. It's safer that way."

"Alright." I don't fight her. I'm sure this is hard enough on her as it is. "We heading back to camp after this?"

"No." I shrug. It's her call to make. "One hour. Move out."

I nod, moving over to the first building I cleared out. The boy is there by the door, exactly where I left him. "Come on. Up. We've got work to do." He looks up at me. His green eyes showing just how fucked he is mentally.

"You scared?" I ask. His head shivers up and down, just like his hands—the adrenaline is wearing off. "You don't have to be afraid. Not while I'm here."

His eyes widen.

"Come on. We need to get this place wrapped up within the hour. And we've got more shit to handle tonight."

"Y-you're…" His voice is squeaky, unsure. Like a little mouse, scared of its own shadow. "Y-you're no-not g-gonna k-kill me?"

"No. I'm not," I assure him. I seal my weapon, offering him a hand up. "Now come on. We've got mouths to feed. And sitting on my hands isn't my style."

"Y-you're a… a… g-g-girl?" Well, let's see. I speak with female sentence structure, I identify as a girl.

"Is that important?" I ask instead of mouthing off. He slowly shakes his head. "Good. Then let's go."

"What's… your name?"

"Namiki," I soothe.

"Lady Namiki…" Okay, what? He stands, or tries to. His legs are trembling, and his knees buckle. I grab him, steadying him. "I'm s-such a burdon. Sorr-rry." Oh, no you don't! You're not slipping into a self-pitying depression!

"No. You're not," I tell him in no uncertain terms. "You just haven't met someone to show you how strong you really are." I sling his arm around my shoulder, steadying him as I half drag him towards where I smell the most food.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After getting him over his own stupidity, we get into the food stores. This really is a group that planned on surviving winter, so there's plenty to be found. Bags of rice, jerked meats, dried fruits, and nuts. Store bought, so there's a town near enough for them to either pillage or shop—I'm guessing pillage.

It's actually so much that I can't seal it all away. Still, I have the boy helping me sort through it all. He eyes the three bags of rice I have set aside, but I shake my head, no. Those have purpose, even if I don't yet have the space to seal them.

"Hey, Hyuuga," I greet the second the door behind me opens. I turn, finding her with a very subdued look. "There's too much to seal away. What do you think we should do?"

"Unseal three bags, seal food instead. We carry the bags the old fashioned way," she drones. I figure that out already. I was more asking to see how much this camp weighs on her. It's not fucking with her head, but it _is_ weighing on her. "How's the kid?"

"He'll be alright," I assure her. I unseal the bags with tantos, kodachis, and trench knives, sealing set-aside bags of rice in their place. "We should head back to camp. We can get the others to come collect the rest of the food."

"Makes sense." She grabs all three bags by the straps, nodding to the boy to tell me to carry him. By comparison, he'll no doubt be lighter. "Let's go."

I grab him, slinging… trying to sling him onto my back. He's fumbling, trying to help but spectacularly fucking it up. "Stop moving. I'll do the work."

That's all it takes. I grab him by the hips, pulling him up onto my back. He instinctively wraps his arms around my shoulders to hold on.

Only…

Not that I want to feel it… but I don't feel that tell-tale bulge between his legs.

"What's your name?" I ask, curious.

"R-Reika," comes the hesitant answer. Well, shit.

"You're a girl," I drone. She nods. Oops. Lack of puberty, so no secondary sex trait hormones. "Sorry. That asshole called you a boy, so I went with that." She shakes her head, no—probably wordlessly telling me it's okay. Not sure.

"Well, hang on tight. I'll get you there safely, I promise."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it back to the camp without too much fuss. I find Reika hiding her face half the time, obviously not liking the whole tree-jumping scene. Still, we arrive in one piece. We don't bother with the gates, we run right up the wall and onto the battlements.

"OI! The fuck?!" one of the idiots bellows, warning the whole camp. "O-oh, uh… W-welcome back, H-Hyuuga-san… N-Namiki-san." Fucking idiot.

We make our way down into the courtyard, already being crowded by everyone. We leave empty-handed and come back with three bags and a new face—I'd be curious, too, but I certainly don't appreciate this shit. Given Reika is to the point of freaking out, I guess she feels the same way.

"Back off!" I growl, tensing to show I really will fuck someone's shit up if they don't take a few healthy steps back. Uzumaki and the girls come barging in, motioning for everyone to back off—instead only getting jealous glares because all the girls and the two boys that hang with Uzumaki are sporting blades.

Hyuuga decides to nip it in the bud, dropping the bags and unsheathing her katana. "Try me," she dares them. Everyone starts backing up instantly—other than the girls, the younger Uzumaki, and Yuki.

Yuki starts muttering something under his breath—something about idiots being idiots.

"You guys got back quick. What's wrong?" Uzumaki asks, her tone weighed with worry.

"Nothing. I couldn't seal all the food, so we need everyone that can water-walk to go to the camp we cleared out and haul the rest of it back. There are more than enough blades as well, if you ignore the blood and gore," I give it all in one go.

They all look around nervously. Even the 'chuunins'. "You're kidding me," I grouse, rubbing my forehead. I try to put Reika down, but she clings to me like a rash. Probably hates the idea of being surrounded by more assholes. Seeing nothing wrong with her logic, I hoist her back up properly and hold her there.

"It's fine. We'll handle it," Hyuuga announces. "But there's a price." I raise an eyebrow, wondering where she's going with this.

"N-namely?" Takibana asks, beads of sweat building up. I grin.

"You accept that without us, you're screwed," she drones. I giggle, loving how she's handling this. There's a wave of discontent going through the camp. "If you disagree, then you claim you do not need the weapons we can offer, the food we can offer, or the trainings you sorely lack that we can offer."

Nervous shifting of their weight. Unable to look in our direction. Rubbing the back of their head. They are uncomfortable, and are likely facing the truth for the first time.

"I'm waiting." Hyuuga crosses her arms, tapping her foot impatiently.

"She's right!" one of the girls announces—the blue-haired one. "They've already done more for us than Zabuza ever has!"

"BULLS—" that asshole shuts up quickly, when Hyuuga turns heel.

"Aya. We're leaving."

"N-no!" Uzumaki sounds distressed. "P-please. D-don't go!"

"We will not provide for ungrateful little shits," I grind out. "Either you accept us as the alphas, or we remove ourselves from the picture."

"Then I'm coming with you!" Uzumaki cries, anxious and unhappy at the thought of us leaving.

"Fuck that! If she's leaving, I'm leaving," the blue-haired one announces.

"Hold on!" Takibana bellows over the waves of complaints and discontent. "Calm down! Someone start explaining something!"

"What's to explain," the blue-haired one strikes again. "They arrive, they rest. They figure out we're not ready for winter, that we're under-equipped and under-trained. They find food, weapons, and offer to train us. And they don't treat us like we're a burden."

"Not to mention not treating us like a piece of ass," Uzumaki grumbles.

"It's clear to me that you boys won't accept us as your superiors. That's fine. But that you clearly do not respect us? Fuck that," Hyuuga grinds out. She's really in a bad mood—not that I blame her. "So as I said. Aya and I are leaving. Any that wishes to join us, we will offer you exactly as Michiko said: food, shelter, and training. We will take care of you. But we will not do so here."

"I'm with you," blue-hair steps up to the plate.

Yuki and the two Uzumakis share a look, each nodding. "We're with you," Uzumaki announces.

"Good," Hyuuga mutters, grabbing the three bags.

"No, stop!" Takibana begs, bowing low and clapping his hands above his head—a sign of begging. Hyuuga pauses, but does not drop the bags. "Please. As you say, we are in desperate need!"

"Start talking, or we keep walking," I threaten. I know this game well enough, so I know what Hyuuga's aiming for. He knows that if we walk away, people will die—either by winter's cruel touch, or by coming back later with plans to slaughter them all.

"P-please… I beg you!" Takibana has officially lost his cool. Tears start flowing down his cheeks. "These kids… they'll freeze to death come winter! We cannot survive without your aid, Hyuuga-sama! I BEG YOU!" He drops to his knees, his palms slammed against the ground, and he bows—his forehead kissing the dirt—as he pleads for the children in his care.

The other 'chuunins' prostrate themselves, their begging mute but no less obvious. The genins start looking around, unable to make sense of any of this. Talk of freezing to death tends to make one question things, but they don't seem to know just what to question. Some seem angry—likely questioning if they'll ever get revenge for whatever brought them here. Some seem lost—questioning if their leaders abandoned them. While others see only doom and gloom—though I can't figure out what has them acting like that.

I shake my head. Most of them aren't worth saving, not in my opinion.

"Aya. Unseal the food. We have work to do," Hyuuga demands, dropping the bags at my feet. I offer my arm instead, so she can unseal it. Hyuuga's pale eyes study Reika, how she clings to me, refusing to let me go.

As if to prove the point further, Reika's arms damn near choke me as she wordlessly begs me not to let 'them' touch her.

"Minori, Aomaru, Michiko, Haruki," Hyuuga calls them, unsealing my scrolls and unsealing bag after bag of food. "You four will come with us. And if any of you complain about the training I put you through, there won't be second chances."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 13_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Hmm, Hitomi seems to both have a plan and not. I wonder what that's about...? Anyway. We have a few things to handle, before things go completely to hell. After all, we still have the fight with Zabuza and Kakashi. How will Hitomi and Aya's presence change things? Will they?  
_**


	14. A warm embrace

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 14 – A warm embrace**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Three. The amount of trips we make to get all the food and weapons from the cleared out bandit camp to the 'rebel camp'. It's three. And all three trips I have to make with Reika on my back, because she flatly refuses to be somewhere I'm not. Even now, as I gaze into the campfire of the next camp.

I don't see them doing anything wrong, even at twenty metres higher than their wall. Hyuuga said the boss from the last camp said this is the 'sister camp' of his gang, though. I sniff, but don't smell anything too out of place. Still, I trust Hito… yeah, I trust Hitomi.

There isn't much about this place. Two buildings, one smelling predominantly of females, the other smelling predominantly of males. There's a rich, flowery smell coming from the females' building as well. And there's the scent of steel, choji oil, and old sweat coming from the guy's building.

"We camp here for the night. We scout them at first light," Hitomi mutters. I nod. Not much choice in the matter. I mean, it's not as if the men currently on guard will start shouting about the crimes they committed.

With nothing else to do, I ease Reika off my back and onto the branch beside me. There's roughly three hundred metres between us and the camp, so there's almost no chance of them spotting or hearing us.

I lean back against the trunk and let my legs dangle over either side, beckoning for Reika to cuddle up with me. She doesn't hesitate.

"You kill people," Reika murmurs, after wrapping her arms around me. I shrug, not bothering to deny it. Her short, black hair tickles my cheek—it doesn't feel bad, so I let it. "You kill people, and you don't feel bad about it."

"Yeah," I agree with her. I don't understand it myself, but even my first kill didn't bother me, not even a little.

"Does that make you a b-bad person? Like th-those b-bandits?" she asks, her voice quivering. I knit my brow, wondering about that myself. I mean, good people don't kill for a living. Good people don't study ways to kill people. And, under normal circumstances, good people tend not to walk around with enough sharp and pointy things to arm a band of asshole marauding the countryside.

"I don't know," I admit, not really caring too much either way. "I am what I am. Whatever that is."

"Don't… you want to be a good person?" It almost sounds as if she's begging me to say yes. I can't, I'd be lying if I did.

"I used to," the words roll off my tongue before I can stop them. "I used to be such a girly girl. Always focused on my hair and looking pretty and playing with dolls. I used to dream about being someone's wife, about taking care of the home, about raising a dozen little brats." Wow. I haven't thought about that shit in years.

All eyes are on me. Each of them looks more incredulous than the next.

"Wh-what… what happened?" Reika is so… innocent. How did she survive in that damn camp?

"Life did," I drone, listless and lifeless. She pulls back from me, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"W… w…"

"You must be tired," I change the subject, unwilling to get into this. What does it matter what my life might have been. It's never going to happen.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The guard shift changes just after sunrise. The daytime guard is easily twice the night—which makes no sense, but that's life for you. I see none of the females I smell, they never once come out of the building. Not for breakfast, not to bathe, not to go to the bathroom.

Curiously, the scent of lime seems to be coming from that building as well—do they refuse to come out because they're afraid? I don't smell cortisol, and I know it isn't because of the distance. Maybe it's not coming out that has them not afraid?

Doubtful, but worth considering all the same.

Including the nightshift guards, the headcount is just over thirty bandits. They bear katanas mostly—that gives them a decent reach. If I get into a fight, unless I'm significantly faster I'll need my tetsubo to counter that reach—or I'll need to rain kunai on them, which they aren't worth the investment for.

"Aya," Hitomi calls to me. I noise to show I'm listening, but my eyes never leave the camp in front of me. "There's a boat en route. They're bringing women. Bound and gagged."

I sneer, my gaze turning into a glare. Slaves. I nod to show I hear her.

"Are they a threat to you?" Hitomi presses.

"No. Civilians, even the ones in the boat you're talking about." I smell the salt air on them, fresh from open waters—they're coming from a ways off. Wave and Mist are the two most likely options, but I don't know enough about either to deduce more than that.

I sniff a little deeper…

Cortisol. Tears. One of them retched en route—seasickness or nerves, I can't tell. And… arousal?

"What's going on in that boat?" I grind out, turning to Hitomi. Her lip twitches up into a sneer and relaxes almost instantly. I thought so. "I'm not accepting your terms. These men die my way."

She nods.

"N-Namiki-san." I don't know who's got their panties in a bunch, and I don't care to know.

"M-milady," Reika stutters, grabbing my arm to tug my attention to her.

I turn to her, our eyes meet. The way she wordlessly begs for me not to go, for me to stay safe, does things to me. And yet, I must go. If I stand by and do nothing, I damn those women to their fate. That isn't something I can live with.

"Listen to me," I demand, cupping her cheek with my hand. She muzzles my glove, her eyes never leaving mine. I'll need to deal with that another time. "Stay here. Hitomi will keep you safe no matter what."

"P-please…" she begs again for me not to go. Is she worried about my life? Or does she not want another group of worthless shits to die?

"If I do nothing. What will happen to those girls?" I ask. Reika's eyes go wide, her mouth hanging slightly open. "Stay. Here." She nods this time, easing her grip before eventually letting go.

"D… p-please… d-don't… "

"I'm not leaving you," I assure her. Tears well up in the corners of her eyes. I don't understand half of what this girl is or has been through, but I'll have to figure that out another time.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Between the river and the camp is roughly ten metres of land, with almost no cover to hide in. So I wait in a tree nearby.

I wait as the bandits in the boat shout something to the bandits on the walls, waving to them as if old friends.

"Quite the haul this time, Maza!" the one on the wall calls back, his eyes on the girls being brought in.

"Oh yeah! We got one here with your name on her!" Tempted as I am to bathe them in killing intent, to have them spend their last moments alive shitting themselves with fear, I do nothing. I wait.

I watch the bandits docking near the gate. I wait patiently as they jerk and shove the girls out of the boat, as they move them towards the inwards-opening slabs of wood. I wait, patiently, until the gate is fully open and they start marching the girls inside.

That's when I strike. I mould the chakra needed, and stroll right alongside them. The one on the wall spots me, his gaze meeting mine. With a gentle flare of chakra, he freezes, then doubles over and falls off the wall.

The first shriek is sent skywards, but the bandits are all too shocked to say anything, to do anything.

The ones holding the girls' chains are soon to follow, grabbing their stomachs as they double over and start puking up their breakfasts.

Three more on the wall, bawling out some name, demanding to hear what happened. They see me, their eyes widen in shock before my chakra flares again—three times in quick succession.

"Stay here," I demand, hoping the girls know I'm talking to them. They say nothing—or nothing intelligible, since I can make no sense of their pitiable whimpering. So I start walking ahead. Each time I spot a bandit, I cast the genjutsu.

Walking through the camp, I hear nothing but retching and screeches of abject horror. Soon all I can hear is the rattle of chains as the girls tremble in fear behind me. They fear for themselves, not the bandits in their death throes.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING—"

Another group pours out of the bigger building, most of them I recognize from the nightshift. One by one, I cast my genjutsu and watch them go through the motions of dying in a manner befitting their karma.

I can't smell anything worth a damn, but I figure that bulky-looking fuck over there is the leader. I walk over to him, kicking him in the face to release him from the genjutsu—the cracking sound tells me I kicked him harder than needed. He tumbles around holding his face as his nose bleeds freely and covers him in his own blood.

"Wha…" he trails off, his eyes wide with shock. He must be wondering where all the snow went, wondering why his men writhe much as he had a moment ago. He studies the slaves being brought in, how they cower in fear, still chained to the guards bringing them in. Then his eyes land on me.

"Y-you did this?" he sounds unsure, almost scared. Not scared enough.

I unseal my tetsubo, hefting it up onto my shoulder. "I'm asking the questions here," I inform him, glaring holes into him. I would like nothing more than for him to jump to his feet and unsheathe his blade. Killing all those assholes via genjutsu is horrid, but it doesn't quite appease my desire to break him in half.

"Who are you? What are you?" Didn't I already say I'm asking the questions?

I grabbing my tetsubo properly, I shift and blaze the tip down on his—

"That's enough, Aya," Hitomi chastises me, having body flickered in the way and blocked my attack.

"M-milady!" Reika jumps down from Hitomi's back, and rushes to me. She throws herself into my arms, forcing me to seal my tetsubo—or drop it, but sealing makes more sense. I take a step back to keep us both from getting bowled over, feeling her arms snaking around my middle. "Y-you're… not hurt are you?"

"They didn't touch me," I assure her. I don't know if she could stomach watching any of what just happened, so I'm unsure if I'm reminding her or informing her.

Four shinobi come barrelling into the clearing, looking around in shock. I don't know what they were expecting, but a camp full of the dead and the dying probably isn't it.

"Minori, I need you to free those girls. Michiko, I need you to go into that building," Hitomi points at the smaller of the two buildings, "and free the rest of them. Bring them here, but keep them to that side," she points to a corner where there are no corpses, "where they'll be safe. Aomaru and Haruki. I need the pair of you to start collecting their blades. When you've done that, I need you to start collecting the futons in the building Michiko—"

Fascinating. All of it really is fascinating. "I'll scout the main building. Come join me when you're done here," I drone, already walking off and half dragging Reika along.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Pretty standard stuff. Food stores, more weapons, sharpening and maintenance stuff for the weapons, and a bunch of kimonos. I seal everything I can, but once again I'm faced with the same problem as before—more stuff than space.

Reika's been helping me to organize things while we wait for Hitomi, carefully lining everything up so we can see what we're dealing with. Unfortunately, they have no shower in here, but I'm not covered in all things gross and gooey, so it's fine.

The door swings open, revealing a nervous-looking Hitomi as she strolls in solo. She beckons to me, leading me down the hall, and down the stairs into the cellar once again. She's quick to do her thing with the safe, and we pile the envelopes of cash into the same bag as before. With that handled, we head right back up to the surface like this is the most natural thing in the world—Robyn Hood and her merry kunoichis.

Once outside, I notice all the girls huddled together in the corner. They seem frightened out of their minds.

Walking over to them, their eyes all fall on me. Most of them are covered in dirt and grime, all of them seem fearful of me.

"Ih… it's you," one of them manages. "You're the one."

I stop a few metres shy of them, not wanting to overwhelm them. "Yes. I'm the one that killed the bandits, but I assure you, neither I nor my associates will harm you," I speak calmly, soothingly.

"You killed 'em?!" a little girl belts out. Her short, red hair sways excitedly as she jumps to her feet. "You killed all of 'em?!"

"Well, mostly," I meet her halfway. The boss was alive last I checked. The girl's green eyes light up with joy, and she comes racing towards me squealing in glee. She barrels into me thanking me over and over again—though I have to guess it's 'thank you'.

O…kay? Did I miss something?

"Sakiko!" Another calls out, clearly distressed. A green… blue… green-blue-haired woman with grey eyes.

Over and over and over, I hear those two words repeated again and again. I gently push the little girl back, squatting down to her height.

"Hey, what's your name?" I ask, wondering at how trusting she is with me. I mean, people usually don't throw themselves at someone that just killed an upward of fifty people—not as far as I know.

"I'm Sakiko. That's Yasu-nee," she turns and points at the clearly freaking out woman that called her name, "she's been taking care of me. Who are you?"

"Namiki Aya," I introduce myself. "Listen, Sakiko. You shouldn't just run up to strangers like that. Especially when you know they're dangerous."

"Well, yeah," she agrees easily, narrowing her eyes like she can't make sense of me. "But you only killed the bandits. And no one'll miss them!"

Okay. That makes sense. "Fine. Now—"

"Besides. You have someone right behind you and she ain't ascared of you," Sakiko points out, nodding sagely at her own words.

"Hmm?" I turn to Reika, wondering how to handle this. It's weird enough having Reika clinging to me. I could say she's pack, but I'm unsure about that. I could say I feel bad for her, but I feel just as bad for this group. Hmm. "Well, yeah. But just because she's safe with me, doesn't mean you are."

"If you say so," she shrugs, smiling even brighter. "But I'll take my chances, Aya-nee!"

I pet her hair, shaking my head in bemusement. Some things just aren't meant to be understood.

"Are you ladies alright?" I ask, trying to show them I really am here to help. They exchange looks, trying to make sense of me. "Are you cold? Or hungry?"

"Starvin'!" Sakiko announces, jumping up excitedly. Does she realise I just finished killing a bunch of people? I mean, really? It feels like I have a fangirl!

"Minori, Haruki, Aomaru, Michiko. The four of you start bringing out the food," Hitomi barks out orders. "Aya, after they eat, I want you to seal them away." I nod, already having thought of that.

"We should try to give them as much as they can hold. It should make it easier to travel back with everything," I suggest. She nods, agreeing with me, so I offer the ladies my attention again. "Is there somewhere we can take you? Where are you from?"

"To that filthy swine of a husband?! Oh, no! He's the one that sold me to these brutes! I'm not going back there!"

"Yours, too! I have half a mind to go back and wallop that worthless son of a bitch!"

So much for being afraid. Now they're pissed. Well, still an upgrade if you ask me.

"M-my boyfriend wasn't much b-better."

"Th-they k-k-killed my f-family."

I wait, and I listen. Not one of them has an option they feel comfortable with. Even as Uzumaki and her helpers dish out food for them, even as the younger Uzumaki offers them sheets to wrap themselves in to keep warm. They keep comparing increasingly depressing tales of how they have nothing worth going back to.

I look to Hitomi. She nods, understanding my mute question—barring a mysterious appearance of other options, we're taking them back to Konoha.

"Hey, Aya-nee? Can me and Yasu-nee… can we come with you?" Sakiko all but begs. She's looking away from me, embarrassed and nervous, but her eyes keep flicking back to me to spy my reaction.

"You don't even know where I'm going," I point out, trying—and failing—to make sense of her.

"Anywhere's better dan stayin' here," she grouses, pouting as she turns fully back towards me. "Please?"

"I'll make up my mind when we get there," I offer with a shrug.

"Awww." She jumps at me, wrapping her arms about my middle and peering up at me with big, watery eyes. "We'll do anything!"

 _Sigh_. This is pathetic. I take on hundreds of bandits, no problem. I kill a guy because he's getting too close to Hitomi, don't even bat an eye. I walk into a Mist rebel base like I own the place. But one little girl with begging eyes and a quivering lip brings me to my knees? No, pathetic isn't strong enough a word.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Moment of truth," I mutter, glaring at the bandit boss. His arms are tied and he has six bags of rice on him so we can test if the seal will allow for such a thing. With little ado, I unseal the large scroll and unfurl a section of it. As Sarutobi instructed, I turn the large seal to the target and focus chakra into the central swirl.

Poof!

With no more than a puff of smoke, the bandit and all the rice disappears. One of the ladies freaks out a little, but mostly there's a buzz of amazement and curiosity I don't pay any mind to. I count to fifty, making sure all the ladies can truly register that the bandit is indeed gone, then I focus chakra into that swirl again.

Poof!

And he's back, looking a little disoriented. "And there you have it, ladies. Perfectly safe," I state the obvious, sealing the idiot again. "Now, just remember, when I unseal you later, you're going to be in another camp. There will be a lot of people there, but I swear to you not one of you will be in danger."

Sakiko runs up, sticking out her chest proudly. What can I do but shake my head at her. Reika gives her a futon, and I give her a wakizashi to hold. I make sure she's holding both as well as she can. "Be good," I murmur, sealing her away.

The next one—Sakiko's Yasu-nee—comes to me. She's handed a futon and two bags of rice to hold, before being sealed away. Then the next, and the next. Before I know it, all the ladies are safely sealed away—some even sealed with my 'unsealed' bags of weapons.

All in all, everything we want is sealed away. "Good. Behind schedule, but not terribly so." Hitomi is sparse with praise—just like mama.

"What's the plan?" I ask, sealing the large scroll into my glove for safekeeping.

"There is another bandit camp." Yawn! "But I want to see these four in action." Oh good! There's only so much good another bandit camp will do for me.

"So we're heading back to camp. En route, I want you four practicing the water walking skill, just like I showed you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Reika and I have quite the entertainment on the way back. Four soggy shinobi keep losing their balance, or don't control their chakra, or just felt like a dunk—you never know. They might as well try to swim back, it would be more efficient.

Michiko seems to be doing the best, but I don't really care. This is only useful for chakra training, not wiping out bandit camps.

I'm not sure why I didn't seal Reika away. I mean, we have an empty seal. It would be easier than strapping a futon to her back and piggybacking with me, to boot.

Yet, walking beside her. Seeing her eyes light up a little each time they fall into the water. See the pain of the past being buried a little deeper with every giggle.

Uzumaki starts flailing, obviously about to lose her footing again. She grabs her little brother and Yuki, hoping to stabilize herself—which only drags them down into the cold river water along with her.

Reika's hand flies up to cover her mouth, her eyes twinkling with laughter as peels of it jump up from her now trembling chest. A smile tugs at my lips. Three gasps for air tell me they didn't drown, but the way Uzumaki and her waterlogged accomplices glare at her, how that makes her bite her lip as her eyes twinkle even brighter.

I like seeing Reika like this. It almost makes this wreck of a mission worth suffering through.

Well, that and the thought of Hitomi finally getting over herself and giving me that kiss I'm owed.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Up ahead I see the wall marking the camp we aren't supposed to burn to the ground. Not that I give a shit about anyone currently in it. As we approach the gate, some of the guards on the wall spot us and strum up some small talk with Hitomi and the others—leading to the gate being opened for us.

In the courtyard, a group—about twenty strong—come to us, obviously wanting to know what goodies we brought back this time. Parasites.

"Aya?" Hitomi indirectly orders me to unseal everyone and everything—which takes almost five minutes to do! I mean, unsealing everything from my storage scrolls isn't too time consuming, but stabilizing the ladies after each unsealing? Helping them to unload their haul, and sealing what's mine back into my storage scrolls? The only one kept sealed is the bandit, because I just really don't feel like looking at his ugly mug.

The low-hanging jaws and doe-eyed stares aren't helping much either. It's distracting.

"Welcome back, ladies," I announce. "Please make yourselves comfortable. And if anyone dares make you feel uncomfortable, come to me immediately. I'll make them regret being born!"

There's a collective, painful gulp as the boys in this camp internalize just how real that threat is. Even the 'chuunins' smell of distress, stutteringly assuring me there won't be a problem.

"She's serious, guys!" Yuki offers 'helpfully'. "She wiped out an entire camp without lifting a finger!"

"Yeah," Uzumaki agrees, shivering. "That place looked like it was hit by a plague."

"Or demons," Michiko chimes in. "Say, Namiki. What's the odds of you training me?"

I snort, shaking my head. "I only train my pack. You aren't pack."

"Aya. After you unseal the bandit, I want you to take these ladies to wash up," Hitomi suggests. I nod, agreeing—they smell. "I'm going to need your scrolls, though."

Ooh. That's going to complicate things. Hmm. I unseal the prisoners' scroll, unsealing the idiot within. Even as the others come to relieve him of the bags of rice, I'm going over my options. I'll need those kimonos. I didn't see anything in Reika's or Sakiko's size, so I'm going to have to improvise with them. I have sowing needles, and we can use the rice bags as thread—if someone knows how to sow, we can make something suiting for them until we get to a city with a proper store.

"Ladies! This way please!" I seal the prisoners' scroll, unsealing my storage scrolls. The bag with the kimonos, my toiletries bag, and the bag with all my tools get unsealed—that should be all I need, so I toss Hitomi both scrolls. "You taking all four with you?"

"Yeah," Hitomi agrees, but her eyes seem cloudy—something's bothering her. "Stay alert, Aya." Ah, she's worried about going without me.

"Should we come with you?" I offer. The last thing I want is to have her worrying. And it's not like I want to be in this stupid camp.

"It's fine. We won't be gone long. I still have your wakizashis, though. Is that a problem?" I roll my eyes, unsealing my tetsubo and hefting it onto my shoulder one-handed. The guys start getting REALLY uncomfortable with the sight of a chibi with a club taller than she is. "Good point. And you still have your other blades. Should I leave—"

"We'll survive," I cut in, smiling warmly. I understand her state of mind all too well. "Get back within three hours, and there won't be any problems on this side. Unless I get annoyed and start caving in skulls."

"M-milady!" Reika meeps out, distressed at the very thought. She comes to me, begging me with her eyes not to start any trouble. I can't pin her down. Is she worried about me getting hurt, or is she worried about me slaughtering another camp? "P-please… please don't… I… I don't want anything to happen to you." Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. I smile.

She fears for me. I'm touched. "Come on, you. I don't tolerate smelly packmates," I tease, smiling to set her at ease.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

In under an hour we're back on the surface. The ladies are all wearing new, clean kimonos, but… Reika and Sakiko are looking more like clones of mine—if with green eyes. One of my spare outfits fit Reika perfectly, and Yasu was kind enough to take in another and tailor it to fit Sakiko. All in all, not a bad day.

Of course, that means Sakiko thinks I'm hers now, so she keeps jumping me and hugging me for no reason.

"Just make sure you stay close to me, Saki," I coo, petting her hair after being glomped for the hundredth time. She looks cute—a chibi kunoichi, just like me.

"Nn!" she noises her agreement, obviously not planning on straying too far regardless.

"Oh, that reminds me. Ladies, please gather round. We need to discuss something important." I chase the fools sitting to the table with an agitated hand wave. They scamper off without too much of a fuss, so I motion for the ladies to take a seat. I give them a moment to settle in, wondering why Sakiko clings to my leg while giggling happily.

The buzz of curiosity hangs heavy, a few of them already murmuring among themselves what this is about.

"Alright, settle down," I call for their attention. The din dies down immediately. Interestingly, I feel a bunch of the rebels' eyes on me as well—they're listening in. Not sure how to feel about that, but that's not my problem. "Good. Now, as you've already announced, you all have nowhere you feel comfortable going. While this camp is good enough to survive, it isn't somewhere I could ever call home. So without a doubt Hitomi and I will be leaving. Within the coming weeks, days, or hours is anyone's guess, but we're not staying here."

Everyone starts murmuring about this or that—unsure how to take that—but the rebels are to the point of freaking out.

"We have options of where we might go, but the important thing for you to consider is that I come from a shinobi family. What that means for you, is that there will always be a risk of danger." Sakiko and Reika cling to me, not liking where this is going. And the others' fidgeting shows me they don't disagree. "So, I'm going to have to ask you to choose your own path."

"What d'you mean, Aya-nee?" Sakiko pleads, not understanding any of this. She isn't monkeying around anymore either. She's quiet, and fidgeting a little.

"We can take you with us. We can provide food and shelter. And we can keep you safe. But the fact is, if you come with us, the only way we can ever assure your safety is to train you to defend yourselves." I give them a moment to let that sink in. After all, most civilians don't spend their days considering just how fucked up a shinobi's life really is.

"Really?!" Why does Sakiko sound excited? "So you'd teach me ta fight like you?!"

"Calm down, Saki," I soothe, rubbing my ear from the overload of decibels. "Keep in mind, my hearing is really sensitive. So please don't raise your voice."

"Oh… uh, sorry, o'nee-chan," she murmurs, her pout obvious even through her mask.

"It's alright. Now, I'm not saying you have to. If you don't feel comfortable living with a shinobi family, that's fine. We can arrange something in a city nearby, get you a job, an apartment. Whatever you need. What I am saying, is that if you choose to stay with Hitomi and me, then you need to learn to fight. In fact, I will need to train you to use your chakra so you'll be more likely to sneak away if things get messy. And I'll also want to train you in medical arts, so you can heal yourself and those around you if it comes to that."

The murmuring starts up again. They don't understand—no civilian ever truly could—but they understand one thing: coming with me is dangerous. And that's the core message I need them to understand. If they come with us back to Konoha, if they get associated with me, they become targets—and easy targets at that.

"I don't need your answer right now. Think long and hard on this."

"Nuh uh!" I raise a finger to remind Sakiko to tone it down. She winces, obviously sorry she forgot. "I-I'm with you, o'nee-chan."

"As am I, milady. I know I'm safe with you," Reika announces. I figured these two would, that's why I didn't make a fuss with giving them my clothes. "When does training begin?"

"S-Sakiko-chan… are… are you sure?" Yasu obviously doesn't share her little sister's enthusiasm. She keeps wringing her hands, her eyes drooping as she wordlessly prays for a different response. Sakiko beams, noising affirmatively as she glomps me again and squeals happily. "I s-see…" She doesn't look happy about it, but she takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders and bobs her head as if coming to a decision.

"Very well, Namiki-sama. I don't know if I'll be any good, but Sakiko means the world to me. If this is what she wants, I'll come as well."

There's quite a buzz going around, but no one else seems eager to—

"I'll join you," a little voice comes from the group of female rebels nearby.

"Oh hell yeah! I'm game!" Another announces. Soon all the girls are bubbling with excitement, each taking a turn to point out how Hitomi and I have been taking care of them since we got here.

It isn't long before the guys start joining in—mostly bragging about the food we've been bringing back, and wanting to blaze through camps like Yuki said I'd done earlier. Who the hell invited them?

I shake my head, sighing at the insanity that seems to follow me everywhere.

…

Is that…

Seriously? What the hell is she doing all the way out here?

I raise my right hand, balled into a fist. The chatter dies instantly. The ladies don't understand what's going on, but they understand that shutting up is important right about now.

"I know you're there, Sarutobi! Come on down and we'll talk!" I call out, hearing my voice reverberate from every wall. "You too, Ito! And bring the other two with you!"

Nothing happens for a long, drawn-out moment. I roll my eyes, shaking my head. "Those flak jackets are more for show than anything! They're pathetic! So you don't have to worry about them attacking you!" I ignore the annoyed groaning from those idiot 'chuunins'. A flash of chakra, and suddenly there's a silhouette in the courtyard with us. I'm glad to see one of them decided to trust me—Sarutobi herself.

"Namiki-san. Good to see you again," she greets politely, righting herself as she looks around. "No Hitomi-san?"

"She's out taking out another camp. What brings you out here?" I get to the point. She's not as bad as others I've met, but I'm still not in the mood for bullshit. And Konoha seems synonymous with bullshit these days, at least when it comes to my life.

"We're tracking down stolen legal documents, from a farm up river from here. Leather satchel, A-four format?"

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell. It could be that last camp has it. If so, Hitomi will have it before long. Any reason why simple bandits would be interested in that?" I press. "I mean, so far I've seen slaves, drugs, weapons, the works. But the only paper they collect has Ryou signs."

"Ah… uh, well. It's an oyster farm. The owners say it's an old-fashion document that says 'the bearer' is the rightful owner."

"Hmm?" I think about that. "It doesn't fit the profile. They were all instant gratification assholes, going for quick money. Extortion and hard work isn't up their alley."

"And these rebels?" she presses, her eyes studying those around us.

"Long story, but we already checked their so-called library and the offices. They don't have anything worth mentioning." There's a buzz of discontent. Everyone seems really uncomfortable about not only us snooping around, but us deciding the 'treasures' Momochi brought them isn't even worth taking.

"That means it's either not this way, or out to sea," Sarutobi comes to the only logical conclusion. "Thanks."

"Not so fast," I stop her just as she's turning to leave. "I need something in exchange. Intel on international drug trafficking and slave trade. They came from open waters, but I don't know if it's Wave or Water they originated from."

"Wave, Namiki-sama," Yasu answers for her. The other ladies all chime in as well, each confirming they came from Wave without exception. "Gatou has taken over the country and has been smuggling out people for months."

Gatou. The man that hired Momochi. Hmm. Interesting. Not terribly so, but still. "Any Konoha teams been sent to Wave lately?" I press. I remember Momochi saying a team would be hired for a C-rank, so idle curiosity should be sated. I am getting something from this exchange. I don't care if it's peanuts.

"Team Seven," Sarutobi murmurs. I sneer.

"Those… fucking… ASSHOLES!" I grind out. Uzumaki isn't ready for a fucking C-rank mission! And now he's on a mission in fucking Wave with the whole country in a stranglehold and with none other than Momochi fucking Zabuza hunting him like fucking prey.

"M-milady!" Reika stutters out, scared at my sudden change.

"Change of plans, people! I leave in less than an hour! Anyone that isn't coming with me, I'll leave your ass here!"

"N-Namiki-san, calm down," Sarutobi tries, holding up her hands to soothe whatever the hell irked me. No time for you, princess.

"I need answers! And I need them now!" I demand, the urge to damn it all to hell and leave no is almost overwhelming. But I need Hitomi to come with me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The entire courtyard is abuzz with a nervous energy. The food they stored is all in the middle, with Yasu organizing what needs to go where. The weapons they stockpiled—ten tantos, twenty wakizashis, and five katanas—get put with the weapons I brought back. Everyone that's coming with us—everyone, seeing as no one wants to risk staying now that the food guarantor is leaving—has their personal effects packed and the supposed library is shared among them.

This is the scene Hitomi and her four walk in on. And to say they're nervous is an understatement.

"You're here. Good. We'll leave in ten minutes. Team Seven is the team the bridge builder hired." Hitomi's eyes widen with shock. "I need my scrolls. Now!"

"No need. I know which are full. I'll seal what I can," she offers instead. "Is everyone coming with us?"

"Yeah. I don't have the space to seal them all," I grumble, pinching the bridge of my nose. They'll only slow us down. We need to get to Wave yesterday!

"Seal who you can," Sarutobi jumps in. She doesn't understand the situation, but she knows I'm worried about Uzumaki. "Whoever stays behind, I have what I need to make more seals. I'll catch up."

"Works for me! Alright people, it's go time! Ladies, I'm starting with you! You know the drill! Futon in hand! And I'm going to give you something extra to carry!" Without missing a beat, all the ladies I rescued start lining up. Reika right alongside them. Yasu starts ordering her three helpers to start handing them the rice.

One by one, I start sealing them away, grateful they argue to hold twice as much as they did last time. It's time consuming, no doubt, but if this is what I understand it to be? We'll need every grain of rice we've collected.

Once they're all sealed, I skip one to save a spot for Yasu—I need her organizing those fools. Then come the bandit guards. They get piled up with stuff, glad we're not planning on killing them, if the look on their face tells the whole story. The bandit boss gets half buried in bags of rice and nuts and dried fruits—even if we have to tie them to him, because I refuse to cut his restraints.

Then come the shinobi. They get the weapons. And everything else they can carry. When the fifty-ninth person is sealed, we're left with sixteen genins, the worthless 'chuunins', the four Hitomi took to that camp, Sarutobi's team, Yasu, Hitomi, and me. And there's still quite a bit of food and cookware and other small things no one was able to hold.

"Alright, Yasu. You're up. I'll see you soon." She nods, holding her futon and three bags of food she saved for herself. Once she's sealed, I seal the prisoners' scrolls into my glove. "Sarutobi. I leave the others to you. Uzumaki, you four are coming with us." I don't have time for your wide-eyed shock, you ditz! Focus!

"Aya," Hitomi calls me, offering my storage scrolls. I nod, thanking her wordlessly before sealing them as well. "Michiko and Aomaru are the faster runners. I'll carry Minori, you carry Haruki."

"That works." I grab the younger Uzumaki, slinging him onto my back. "Ito, when you're done come join us. I think I know where your ledger is."

And with that, we body flicker out of the clearing.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I plant my foot in the sand. My eyes take in the unending sea before me. There's no sign of land, at all. That means we've got quite the distance to travel on open waters. I've already seen to my needs, and I've eaten two rations bars and three bars of chocolate.

"We're talking about a four hour run, with two of them on your back. Are you sure you can handle it?" Hitomi demands. We have no other options, so I nod. "I'm serious Aya. I can't carry the five of you. If you collapse halfway, there'll be a body count."

"Then I need to not pass out," I agree, glaring at the churning tides and the incoming waves. "We don't have time, Hitomi. Let's go." The Uzumaki siblings crawl onto my back, almost as if wondering if I can carry them at all. I unseal my tetsubo, slipping it under their butts and holding it with both hands—leverage to spread the strain more evenly.

"You're as stubborn as sensei ever was," she grumbles, hoisting her two onto her back as well. Without a word, we body flicker out onto the water, starting what's without a doubt going to be the hardest journey on my body and nerves.

I'm coming, Naruto. Don't you fucking die on me!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Wave after wave. It's no fucking wonder they call it the Land of Wave, but still—FUCK! I've been carrying two people easily as heavy as myself up and down metres-tall waves for three and a half fucking hours!

At least I can see the shore! The lights are an orangey-red, glowing under the twinkling stars—open fires no doubt.

Ten minutes. Just ten more minutes!

"We're almost there," Hitomi mutters. "Just a little further." I know that!

Don't react, Aya. Just don't. Save that energy, focus it, pour it into making it to shore conscious. Hitomi can't carry us all. You can do this!

It's doubtful, though. I'm running on empty, chakra-wise—not that I have all that much to begin with. I need my chakra to carry these two, and to continue living.

You can do it, Aya. You know you can. Pull out all the stops! You need to get to him, now!

I start body flickering, determined to make it to shore conscious. I don't care if I pass out when I get there. They can carry me on land.

From the top of one wave, I flicker to the top three waves later. Over and over. I just need to get there. Just get there.

It's coming closer. I see the waves breaking on the shore. I push a little harder, body flickering four waves instead of three. I lock my arm muscles so I don't drop either of my charges. I grit my teeth, and I just keep going.

The trees on the shore come into focus. Darkness fights to claim me, but I shove that asshole aside—he ain't helping, so fuck him!

With one last body flicker, my feet touch sand. I'm going too fast! I spin, throwing our combined weight into slowing down without breaking stride. Hitomi is a step behind me. Good. We made it.

I drop the Uzumakis on their asses, doubling over to puke. No time. No time. Suck it the fuck up, Aya! This is Uzu… this is Naruto's **life** we're talking about!

Thinking quick, I use some sand to cover the bile and force myself to stand. "We need to find them," I mutter, refusing to make too much noise—if I can help it.

My legs wobble, bitching about the abuse I put them through.

I take a deep breath through the nose. I smell him. He's been through this area today. I sniff again, identifying pinkie, broodie, and lazy. They were with another person, smells of old sweat and new booze.

"Let's go," I announce I have his scent—at least Hitomi would know that. With that I dash off ahead. Either they'll follow, or they won't.

I head inland, following the scent of my idiot. Through the woods, jumping over the shrubs like they're nothing. No, fuck it. The height is worth the risk.

I jump up onto a low-hanging branch, using it to catapult me up onto a higher one. From branch to branch, I keep body flickering.

There! A house! They went in there! I smell a warm meal, Naruto smells like he's been in a scuffle and hasn't washed up yet. I body flicker to the door, opening it without a thought and rush into the house. I don't even take off my shinobi sandals at the door—fuck propriety!

Sitting to the table. He's fine. Eating his dinner—shovelling it in, really. I stumble into the room, dropping on the tatamit mats—my legs finally gave out on me.

He lowers his bowl. Sky blue eyes take me in, widening in recognition. "A-aya-chan?!"

"N-naruto," I mutter. He's at my side before I can blink—there's some background noise as well, but it doesn't reach me. He's safe… he's alive…

Okay… now I can pass ou—

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 14_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry about the long delay. We had some MAJOR internet issues on the island, so I was back in the Stone Age for almost a week. Don't shoot the messenger :P  
_**

 ** _The advantage is that I have quite a bit already written. So I can spoil you to make up for it._**


	15. A time to act part 1

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 15 – A time to act part 1**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting in the sitting room—it's what the room's named, so why not—I stretch my abused and sore muscles. What's-her-face said breakfast should be ready soon, but I don't care about that. Naruto already told me in no uncertain terms that he's not leaving these people to die, so that means I'm stuck here cleaning up his mess once again.

I need a plan. A good plan. A better one than 'build a bridge'. A better one than 'don't die'. I have the people, I have the resources, but what am I dealing with?

"Hitomi?" I call to her, doing a split and reaching to grab my foot. She noises to show she's listening—why is she standing behind me, though? "We need a plan. Hatake's still comatose. Uchiha's head's still up his ass. And Haruno's no better than our Academy days. What have you got?"

"Sakura-san updated me on the fight. I think Zabuza-san was saved by Haku-san," she informs me. I lean forward, my every muscles bitching about every millimetre. Why do I feel like someone's watching my ass?

"Is that so?" I murmur. I feel that gaze still studying my glutes. I blush, knowing Hitomi's the only person in the room with me. "Naruto refuses to leave. So what situation are we facing?"

"Hnn?" Is that I'm-thinking or I'm-pretty-sure-I-heard-you? I move from the split, laying flat on my tummy and stretching my abdomen and back. That this also gives her quite the view is _purely_ coincidental. "Well, Tazuna-san explained the situation last night. I suspect Gatou's infiltrated the daimyo's palace. We also have a town full of people on the verge of starvation to make kidnappings seem like a blessing and people sell their wives and girlfriends into slavery thinking they're saving them."

I nod, going over the information. Palace needs to be taken out, and there'll be shit-for-brains 'guards' in the town, got it. "Gatou's location?"

"I'm betting on the royal palace itself," she mutters. "But you're not ready for something like that. And you need a solid team to get you in and out alive. Zabuza-san should be up and about in a week. That isn't a lot of time."

"What's the alternative?" I ask, actually curious. "If we stop Momochi, Gatou hires new muscle and tries again. If we stop Gatou, his corporate goons climb the ladder and take his place. And if this daimyo allows the countrywide shakedown, then he's either too weak to stop it, too cowering to stand up to a tyrant, or too corrupt to care. That means, unless I'm looking at this wrong, we need deal with all three."

"Please don't say it like that," she begs. I freeze. "You make it sound like it's the right thing to do." Ah. Footsteps are coming this way—the troops are awake.

Not wanting to give them the same show, I get up and turn to Hitomi. As expected, her eyes are drinking me in, head to toe. I smirk, seeing for the first time that she does like what she sees.

"Mornin', momma wolf," Naruto greets. He and his team—sans Hatake—enter the sitting room along with the four we brought from the camp. Hmm. That means they had a meeting of their own.

"Nn," I noise. "We've got a situation. I need a training update. How far'd you get and with what?"

He sighs, plopping down at the table. I already know I'm going to hate this. "Nowhere. We've learned a few team drills, sixteen formations, and that's it." I groan, hating it more than expected.

"That lazy ass," I grumble, walking over to Hitomi and plopping down beside her. "Alright. Jutsu preferences of the team?"

"No, Aya. Seriously. That's it. That's all we've done. We don't know nothin' more than the day we graduated." I shake my head. This isn't getting any better, is it.

"Your wakizashis?" I press, wondering why he isn't wearing them.

"They… k-kinda br-broke during the fight. Sorry," he mutters, looking away from me.

"You're alive. That's what matters." I go over my options. Uchiha is an ass, but he's motivated and polishes everything he does to perfection. Haruno is slow and sloppy, but she's got brains in spades. And I already know Naruto's moves as well as he does. That leaves a fuckton of unknowns with unknown loyalties.

"Aya?" I turn to Hitomi, wondering what's on her mind. "I'd prefer it if you thought out loud. I don't want to guess where you are mentally."

"Still assessing the damage. Haruno. You were a genjutsu type as well, right?"

"Well, yeah. Other than Hinata-chan, all the girls in our year were." Hmm, I didn't know that. "Why?" This isn't the Q-and-A portion of my plotting, Haruno. I'll get to you in time.

"And Uchiha. You were more mid-range. Fire user by your scent. You any good with blades?"

"Nn," Uchiha noises, bobbing his head. "I'm also the best of our year in taijutsu." No, you aren't. You're just the one with something to prove.

"Works for me. Yuki, what's your poison?"

"Hmm? Needles, traps, and Ice-release jutsu," he informs me, his eyes darting back and forth to figure this out. "You're… from their class?"

"Michiko. You're next," I move on. They'll get the point eventually.

"I'm a sensor and genjutsu specialist." That's my kind of girl! Alright, something I can work with.

"Sensor and trap specialist," Uzumaki offers before I ask. Good girl. "And Haruki's still working on the basics."

"Alright," I breathe a sigh of relief, "that means we're not as bad off as I first feared. Hitomi, what's the skill level?"

"Solid genins, all three of them. Aomaru's long-range support, his aim's better than yours by far. Michiko uses a sensory jutsu similar to the Byakugan, so she can see through walls and identify targets by chakra signature. Minori can make simple trap seals and is as sneaky are our blond. And Haruki is more of a medic than anything, though he lacks the skills."

"Hey!"

"We all start somewhere, little brother," Minori soothes, petting his hair to shut him up.

"Alright. Hitomi, I can work these brats in. You willing to scout the rest of them to see who'll not get themselves killed?"

"No can do. I need to scout for points of interest and gather intel we'll need for planning ahead. And I need you to keep an eye on Kakashi while I'm doing that."

"You have no soul," I drone, glaring at her. She smiles to show how affected she is by my words.

"I'll head out after you unseal everyone. And I'll need to borrow one of those scrolls." You're getting really familiar with my shit, you know! "I might need a storage scroll and a corpse scroll, as well."

"Anything else, your highness?"

"Yes. I need you to make profiles on everyone. Skill profiles, personality profiles, and threat potential profiles. I should be out all day, so you should have enough time. When I get back we'll need to make a plan, and you'll need to organise everyone into teams for us. Count on us needing at least four teams, and don't include Kakashi or myself. Questions?"

"Did you want that with pink or blue ribbons?" I deadpan. Naruto's vivacious and boisterous laughter fills the room, lighting a fire in his fellow Uzumakis' eyes. Hitomi offers little more than a raised eyebrow. "Alright, alright. Fine. Jeez. But I reserve the right to smack around anyone that annoys me."

"That goes without saying. And please make sure Tsunami-san has enough hands to help her around the house?"

"Yeah, I know. And don't ask that other thing, I already know." She raises an eyebrow. "Keeping enough food set aside for the town?"

"And you wonder why I give you so much responsibility," she teases, kissing my neck, sending a shiver through me.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Standing outside with the bridge builder, his daughter, some spoiled brat that I assume is her son, the shinobi already assembled—including a seriously out of it Hatake—and myself. I notice everyone's gaze is on me. Well, all those not in the know why we're out here.

"Let's the party started," I drone, shrugging to show how motivated I really am. I unseal the first prisoners' scroll, and unseal Yasu first. I grab her forearm to help stabilize her.

"Oh…" I hear some emotion behind me that has nothing to do with me, so I help Yasu set her load down.

"You know the routine," I address her. "I'm going to start unsealing the ladies first. So I need you and the bridge builder's daughter to pick a room to store all the food. And another room to store whatever weapons I cannot seal away. And discuss sleeping arrangements. I'll want the ladies in the house, but the guys can set up camp outside."

"Of course, Namiki-sama. Thank you for your trust in this." Way too fucking proper.

"Just Aya's fine," I assure her. "And make sure the others know that calling me by my given name is a privilege they haven't earned."

"As you wish." She bows low to me, already carrying one of her bags with her as they enter the house.

Up next, I unseal Reika. She drops her things instantly, already flying at me like she hasn't felt my warmth in months. I shake my head, amused with her. Sakiko soon follows, and I get the exact same response.

"Alright. This is taking too long. Michiko, I need you to stabilize them as I unseal them." I ignore the 'yes ma'am' and start unsealing the others much faster. In less than a minute I have all the ladies unsealed, and the food and futons they were carrying piled up on the ground.

"Welcome back, ladies. We are currently in the Land of Wave," I bring them up to speed quickly, but there's an air of malcontent. "I didn't bring you here to drop you off. We're here to deal with something before moving on. Now listen up, Yasu will be back shortly. She'll be in charge of you ladies while I deal with a bunch of idiots."

Everyone laughs at that. Whether because of the dry monotone or because they think I'm joking, I'm not sure.

"I have a very specific task in mind for you. Because we bring so many mouths to feed, I will need you to help with preparing the food and keeping the house tidy while we work. I know it's unfair to demand this of you, but please bear with me until more suiting arrangements can be made." I bow to them, showing the respect they're due.

"You can count on us, Namiki-sama!" one of them calls out, but the others are quick to mirror the sentiment. Soon the whole group is abuzz with determination and ready to tackle whatever it is I need them for.

Yasu comes out just then, already suggesting a human chain to get the food inside quickly and efficiently. The bridge builder's daughter seems almost… statuesque? What's with her? Either way, not my problem.

In no time at all, all the food is in the house, so I start unsealing the food I have in my storage scrolls—that gets transported into the house at the same quick pace.

"Alright! Now if you could start bringing the futons in?! Once that's inside we will start discussing duties and a rotation so no one gets overwhelmed!" Yasu is good at what she does, I'll give her that. "Oh, Aya-sama. Pease come find me when you are ready to store those weapons. There isn't a separate room for it, but I have a system in place that will allow for everything to be organized properly."

Once the last futon is in the house, I address the ladies. "Please do not go inside just yet. The boys have more food with them."

With little more than a nod, I unseal the first bandit. "If you could hand those bags to the ladies and stand up against the wall?"

Over and over, all the bandits are unsealed. I quickly move onto the shinobis, but only those with food hand their burden to the ladies. If I recall, everyone beyond this point is carrying weapons.

"Thank you, ladies, for your aid and diligence," I offer with a deep bow. "We can take it from here. And please assure Yasu that I will come to her should there be a need."

No time to coddle and play favourite, though. So I continue unsealing people until all four scrolls are empty. Then I turn to Hitomi, tossing her my storage scrolls.

"I don't know which seals have more food, and which have more weapons. Unseal what you feel should stay here," I suggest. It takes her no time at all to unseal a few more bags of jerked meats. She hands me one of my storage scrolls, keeping the second one for herself—my 'kunoichi scroll'. "I'm going to need my books as well." Interestingly, she unseals that bag without a second thought. She knows where I packed what.

I unseal a prisoners' scroll and a corpse scroll for her, which she seals away in the storage scroll—which gets pocketed.

"Hold down the fort for me," she orders, kissing the crown of my head and body flickering out of sight before I get in a word.

"Slave driver," I complain, shaking my head. "Alright, listen up! For those who don't know it by now, I'm in charge! Question me and I promise you will **not** like the repercussions!"

Most shrug, some roll their eyes. Overall, no one's surprised.

"First order of business! Those of you with no ninja training! You will go with the bridge builder! He'll need extra hands, and you will keep your blades ready if anything goes down! Is that understood?!"

"Yes, Namiki-sama!"

"If there is an attack! One of you will haul ass back here and warn us! I don't care which one! Just get it done!"

"Yes, Namiki-sama!" They're obedient, I'll give them that.

"Good! Now is there any among you that is currently unarmed? Or anyone in need of an extra blade?"

"No, Namiki-sama!"

"Should that change for whatever reason, you will report directly to me! If you work for me, it's my job to make sure you are taken care of! Do **not** forget that!"

"Thank you, Namiki-sama!" A few of them are teary-eyed. What's that about?

"Are you going to head off to work?" I turn to the bridge builder. It's not as if I'm going to make sense of any of them, after all.

"Y-yeah," he stumbles over the word. And are his eyes wider than usual? Idiot. He shakes his head. "Alright, men! I'm Tazuna, the bridge builder! I'm going to need you to work hard to get this done!"

Fucking idiot. They already know what their job is. Seriously.

"Yeah, yeah. Just head out already. I've got more shit to handle," I chase them off with a wave of my hand. They start their trek to wherever it is that they're going—I assume an unfinished bridge, but I'm just guessing. The only bandit not going is that stupid boss that's still hog tied and staring wide-eyed at the world around him.

"Next up! Shinobis! I need you to line up according to your specialties! Any and every one geared towards hand-to-hand and weapons, please group to my left!" I raise my left hand so they know what I'm talking about. They all look confused. Why?

"That's your right hand, Aya-chan." I smack Naruto for the backchat. "Hey!" I raise my _other_ left hand—stupid directions. They start mulling about this time. Fucking idiots.

"Those who are more geared towards jutsu usage and long range support! I need you to group to my right!" I raise my right hand this time—it's the opposite hand, so it's unlikely I got it wrong.

Soon there's no one in the middle. Let's change that, shall we? "Any and every sensor, regardless of your current grouping, should return to the centre!"

Three of them return to the centre. Two from the jutsu side, one from the other side. I nod.

"You three come here," I indicate the three sensors. They come to me, freeing up the middle once again. "Now, jutsu group! Those who are genjutsu types, please group in the middle!"

All (four) girls and six boys move to the centre.

"We don't have a lot of time, so if any of you feels unable or unwilling to follow my orders to the letter! I need to know now!"

There's some murmuring, but overall, they're fine with it.

"Good! Then let me welcome you to the Namiki shinobi boot camp! If by the end of the day you don't hate me, I'm not doing my job right!" I grab the bags with blades, dragging them in front of the four distinct groups. Not organized to my liking, but enough for what we can hope to accomplish.

"You are grouped according to how I want you to remain grouped! Remember that for the time being you are Team A," I point to the close-quarters group, "Team B," I point to the long-range and jutsu users, "Team C," I point to the genjutsu users, "and Team D," I point to the sensors. "While you may be grouped as such, that is for simplicity! You will all get the same basic training! And you will all be offered the same rights and respects!"

There's some murmuring, but no one seems rebellious or resentful. So I move on.

"While you are training under me! You must remember three core rules! First! Do not enter the house without my express permission! Second! Do not be afraid to ask me any questions if it has something to do with the training exercise! Anything not related to training?! Keep that shit to yourself! And third! If at any point I mark you as a threat to me or mine?! You will **not** get a chance to correct your mistake! Questions?!"

"No, Namiki-sama!" They answer as one. Good. They have some basic respect and training, that's a blessing.

"I'm going to start handing out blades! The types I have available are katana! Wakizashi! Kodachi! Tanto! And trench knife!" I take out one of each and as I call out their name, so they know what we're dealing with. "You may choose for yourself which type of blade you will work with! Even if that means dual wielding! But you will all choose a blade or blades! I don't have kunai or shuriken to offer! So these are the only weapons available!"

"Namiki-sama?" Michiko calls to me. I nod, showing I'm listening. "May we choose different blades, or multiple blades?"

I look around, doing a quick headcount and weighing that against the blades I know I have sealed. More than enough. "Yes! You may! However, keep in mind that the more blades you choose now, the harder I am going to work you! I need to trust you'll survive! So choose only what you feel you can handle! Is that understood?!"

"Yes, Namiki-sama!" They all sound excited. Giddy almost. Why? Is this about them lacking blades this long?

"Good! Then let's begin! Katana!" The majority of them raise a hand. So I start grabbing katanas and tossing one to each. When all hands are down, I continue. "Anyone for dual wielding the katana?!" No hands go up.

"Moving on! Wakizashi!" Everyone that wanted a katana, wants a wakizashi. So I start tossing them each one. Naruto gets two without him asking. "Anyone for dual wielding wakizashi?!" Three hands go up, so I toss them each a second one.

"Next up! Kodachi!" No hands go up. I nod.

"Tanto!" The Team C guys raise a hand—they didn't go for the longer blades, and the girls already have the blades they want. A few from Team B want, and all the sensors. When they each have one, I move on. "Anyone for dual wielding?!" No hands go up. I grab three extra, keeping them at my feet.

"Last up is the trench knife!" No hands go up. I nod, zipping up all the bags and sealing them into my storage scroll before sealing that away. Luckily there are no weapons left hanging about, so we're good.

I fish out a spool of ninja wire and a kunai, handing them to Michiko. "Listen well! This is where things start getting interesting! Michiko here will be in charge of the ninja wire! Tell her how long a piece you need and how many! Until further notice, those blades you carry must be on your person at all times! If you can come up with a method to strap them to you without ninja wire, that's acceptable, but I don't have any straps or sashes to offer! Bear in mind that they need to not move around during training! So make sure whatever method you use is stable!"

While they are busy dealing with that, I turn to Reika and Sakiko. I take the three tantos on the ground handing one to Sakiko and two to Reika. "You two will start training right alongside us. Reika. I need you to give that extra tanto to Yasu. If she argues with you, remind her that she already agreed to my terms."

"Of course, milady." Reika dashes off into the house, already in search of Yasu.

"Saki. I'm only offering you one warning. This isn't a game. If you do not take this seriously, you can cut yourself with that blade. Do you understand?"

"Uh huh," she noises, bobbing her head. "I'mma do my best. I promise, o'nee-chan."

"That's my girl," I praise, petting her hair. She beams up at me.

"Everyone?!" I call out, trying to get their attention. The din quiets down quickly. "Keep in mind there's a difference in unsheathing if strapped to your back! Before trying that! I want someone to hold each blade in sheath against your back where you want it! If you cannot unsheathe your weapon without aid, you're doing in wrong!"

"U-umm, N-Namiki-san?" Haruno comes to me, nervous about something. "I'm… not sure which blade I'd be better at."

I mull that over. "Can you reinforce your muscles with chakra?" I ask, a plan half formed in my head. She nods, unsure what that has to do with anything. I unseal the bag with trench knives and hand two of them to her. "Don't ask. Just trust me. You'll want them strapped to your lower back, one on each side."

"Th-thank you," she stutters out, moving out of the way. She no doubt has her own ninja wire, after all. Shaking my head, I reseal the bag and scroll where they belong.

Kami-sama. This is going to be a long ass day, isn't it.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Fuck that!" I bellow in Haruno's face for being too prim and proper to put that little shit in his place. He made the mistake of staring at her crotch instead of paying attention to me. And her only response is to fidget nervously and blush? "If this meek ass mouse is the best you have to offer me?! Bitch, you best haul ass back to your momma! I need warriors, Haruno! I need kunoichi that will slap the shit out of anyone that dares disrespect them!"

I can't believe this is even a subject. I really can't. I turn around, seeing all of them standing around me in a circle. I see the girls looking upset—given the one being stared at is the one being punished, I can understand why. But there's a reason to my madness.

"And as for you?!" I walk up to the dumb shit that was staring. And I slap the taste out of his mouth, dropping him to his knee. This way I show them I'm not playing—neither games nor favourites. "Do **NOT** disrespect me! I will bitch slap any offenders! And if I catch anyone too focused on someone's ass, crotch, or chest to do as they're told?! I promise you, I'll only get worse with each offence! Just because you have a dick, doesn't mean you can't control yourself!"

I let that sink in for a long moment, let that asshole collect himself and stand at attention again. And why do I feel someone's eyes on my ass?

"Now! Back to the explanation! I am not here to hold your hand! If you want to be the weakest fuck the world has ever seen, that's on you! I will explain the exercise to you! And I will give you a timer! Do the exercise until the timer runs out! Failure to do so is on you! If you need help?! Ask! Failure to do so is on you! And don't come crying to me because someone else is doing better! Instead of complaining! You should focus that energy into your fucking training! Any questions?!" I look around, wondering if anything was unclear.

Michiko raises a hand. I nod to her. "If we interrupt you to slap someone for breaking your rules? Is that allowable?"

"It is!" Without missing a beat, Michiko slaps the boy next to her. I knew someone was staring at me! "While you train under me! You train as a wolf pack! It's the pack's duty to keep their packmates in check! We are all that keeps us from becoming monsters! Remember that!"

Another hand goes up. I nod to the boy beside Haruno. "Is it allowable for a guy to slap a girl for the same offence?"

"Oh fuck yeah!" He slaps Haruno across the back of her head, almost sending her flying forwards. Of course, she pays more attention to her precious Uchiha than anything. "I don't play favourites, people! Anyone here that wields a blade plays by the same rules! If you can't handle hitting a girl? Go home! If a girl can't handle getting hit? Go home! Because the enemy isn't going to care! They'll stab you just like any other asshole that stands in their way!" They nod to show they agree with me.

"Good! Now I know you all have some training! But I do not know what that training is! So we're going to do as I say, when I say it! If this is something you already know! Shut up and show me!" I look around, waiting to see if there's any more resistance. There isn't. "Alright! Now we're getting somewhere! The first thing you are going to do is de-oil, clean, sharpen, and re-oil your blades! And keep in mind, if I gave it to you, it's yours! So treat it with care!"

I unseal my bag with my tools, I take out the two sharpening kits I have.

"I only have two! So that means you will come one by one and show me you've learned this shit already! Only sharpen the blades I gave you! If you have other blades in need, you can do that tonight! And if you have your own sharpening kit, put that shit away! The point is me seeing you do this!" Everyone nods to show they understand—I don't doubt Naruto, Haruno, and Uchiha have kits on them or in their bag or whatever. "Once you've sharpened your blade! You will present that blade to me so I can check it! If I approve?! Then you may sheath your blades, and you will proceed to the next training! And that is the tree-climbing skill!"

I body flicker to a nearby tree, waiting at its base for all eyes to find me once again. Not surprisingly, the sensors find me in half a heartbeat. It takes some of them far too long, but I make sure to note each reaction time. I don't continue until I have their undivided attention once again.

"What you have to do is coat the bottom of your feet with chakra! Too much and you'll push yourself off! Too little and you slip! Get it just right?!" I start walking up the tree at a leisurely pace. When I reach a few paces up, I stop. "It's easier to start at a running pace! But this isn't considered mastered until you can stand perfectly still, change direction, and continue walking." I turn and walk right back down the tree to the ground.

I body flicker back to where I was standing before, grateful they all catch on quicker to keep their eyes on me.

"So! Recap! Sharpen your blades! Show me! And tree-walking! You will not be allowed to take the next step in training until you have proven to me you have these two under the belt! So hop to!"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I'm tired. I'm not even training, and I'm tired. Luckily Yuki and Michiko have already gotten through the tree-walking thing, so I can start making arrangements. "Michiko, I need you to check how many workers are at the bridge. Not including those I sent."

Her eyes start glowing crimson. She focuses, seemingly looking for them—I'm not sure where they are, or if that's outside of her range, but this is a good way to find out.

"Twenty-two," comes her deliberation. I nod. "And that Konoha team is already there, talking to Tazuna."

"Good. You and Yuki head over there. Ask Tazuna if we need to make lunch for the other workers. And lead that team here." With a nod, they body flicker away. _Sigh_. I hate being in charge.

With that handled, I turn my attention back to Reika and Sakiko. I have them sitting down, trying to feel their chakra for the first time. Just as I was taught—by mama, not those fools in the academy—I have them pointing to their palm with their index finger. They know that they've got it when they can feel a tingling sensation moving from their finger to their other hand.

"You know. You're quite the leader," Hatake announces he thinks he's funny.

"And you're quite the slacker. Can't trust them with the tree-walking training, but you think they can handle a fucking C-rank?"

"In my defence, they haven't shown any—"

"Because you haven't demanded it of them," I cut him off. "I have what… thirty genins running through a training? And I'm ironing out the fangirl and fanboys while I'm at it. If I can do it, why can't the almighty Hatake fucking Kakashi?"

He rubs the back of his head, acting embarrassed. Asshole.

The last two of them come baring their blades for me to inspect. I take them, turning them into the light to see if the coat of oil is even, and I check the edge itself to see if it looks sharp and even. "Not perfect, but decent. Alright, to the trees with you." I hand them their blades grip first.

"Namiki-sa~aaaaan!" Haruno calls out. I turn to her, finding her standing halfway up the tree. She turns, walks down, stops, turns, walks up, stops turns and walks all the way down. I nod to show I agreed she mastered this, and I wave her over to me.

She comes running, eager to start on the next step of her training. I unseal my bag with my books, unzipping it and looking around for the one she'll need. Logically she should start on the water-walking skill, but I need a few of them to finish up before I start them on that as a group.

"Sit down," I order, taking out a book and offering it to her. "Genjutsu made easy. You will read the introduction and the first five chapters. Memorise everything you can within those limits. After you get through the next training, you will start working on genjutsus."

"Namiki-sa~aama~aaaaaaa~" Haruki calls out this time. He shows me in the same way as Haruno that he's mastered this step, so I wave him over to me as well. I start fishing for a different book for him—a medical book.

"Sit down," I order, offering him the book. "Start reading and don't stop."

"Hnn?" Haruno pipes up, obviously wondering why he is getting different instructions than her.

"You're starting on genjutsu theory. You're going to need E- and D-rank theory before you start practicing. He's starting on medical theory. He needs to study the whole book before I can start him on much of anything," I explain. She hmms and narrows her eyes on the book he's reading. "If you're interested, you can read the book when he's done. Now get back to reading."

"Have you studied them both?" Haruno asks, obviously not in the mood to let this go.

"Yes, I have. I've gotten to B-rank genjutsus, and I'm busy learning the Mystic Palm jutsu, which is an A-rank medical jutsu." Hatake's visible eye widens—he looks mildly surprised, to put it nicely. "And just like me, you have a small chakra reservoir. That means chakra control will come naturally to you. That means you should be able to learn these things quickly. Now, if you want to get to the fun stuff, I suggest you stop goofing off and start studying like I told you."

"Nn!" she noises happily, tearing into the theory with the same veracity I did. Good, Haruno. With a little luck, you'll be one hell of kunoichi in time. You just need get over yourself to do it.

"M-milady!" I go to Reika, wondering what has her so excited. When I squat down in front of her, her eyes peer up at me, wide with surprise and awe. "I feel the tingling." She sounds about ready to cry.

I grab her hand, poking my palm with her index finger. "Show me." Almost instantly, I feel her chakra entering my system. It's slow, choppy like churning waters. But I feel it all the same. I cup her cheek with my hand, my eyes twinkling with pride. "That's my girl."

She goes from excited to teary-eyed in the drop of a hat. Deciding she deserves a little coddling, I sit in her lap and wrap my arms around her, letting her nestle up against me and hide her face in the nape of my neck. It isn't long before the poor thing is choking out sobs as she bawls and clings to me like the death god is around the next corner.

I don't ask. I don't speak. I let her, rubbing her back in slow, deliberate circles. Whatever she's been through, I'm guessing kindness didn't have a major role to play in it.

Seriously, though. I'm only one person. A genin, to boot. Why am I in charge of a fucking battalion of shinobi?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Water-walking," I announce, getting everyone's attention. Team C—the genjutsu tem—a few of the jutsu using Team B, and all the sensors of Team D are all here. They each got through the tree-walking already, though I suspect many of them were more than capable before I got here. "Same as with tree walking. You need to coat your foot with chakra to counterbalance your weight on the water's surface. Only this time, the surface isn't staying still. It moves, it flows. It's ever-changing. And your balance of chakra needs to change with it."

I walk out onto the water beside the dock, letting them see it's possible. "I'd advise you to take off your jackets, your weapons, and your sandals. Anything you don't want wet, shouldn't be on you. Because odds of you getting this the first time is non-existent."

Yuki, Michiko, Minori, and Haruki were already past dropping in on the first step, so I'm not too surprised they stroll out beside me—graceful as drunken hippos, but standing all the same.

"Don't get too close to the person beside you. Their ripples affect your stance and you can end up amplifying the effect on each other. Keep at least a metre between you, and you should be fine," I explain, grinning with Minori starts blushing and moves away from her splash buddies.

With the explanation round over, I walk over to the dock, where I have Reika and Sakiko meditating to calm their chakra and help them to call on it more readily in the future. Sakiko still hasn't unlocked it, but given she's five I can't say I'm surprised.

I plop onto the dock between them, sighing contently that I can finally not do anything for a bit.

"You're a pretty good sensei," Sarutobi announces. The three with her nod sagely, agreeing with her.

"You have the others sealed?" I change tack. I'm not in the mood to hear what I am or what I am not.

"Yeah. You want me to unseal them?"

"Yeah. But not here. Other side of the house. Ask Naruto to explain what I expect from them before they're allowed to try the tree-walking. He should also explain what I expect to see before they're allowed to move on. And be sure to explain it's reading theory before they can try this."

"What theory?" she asks. What the fuck? Is this q-and-a?

"I have genjutsu theory, elemental theory, and medical theory. They won't be allowed to touch the water before reading what I tell them to read."

"I'll handle it," Ito offers, body flickering to the other side of the house. Doesn't she need the scrolls where the others are sealed? Not my problem.

"Alright. Captain Ito and I will see to that side of things," Sarutobi agrees, body flickering right behind Ito. They're big girls, they can figure this out all on their own.

"You have them studying medical theory?" the idiot medic asks. How brain dead do you have to be to advertise that you're the team's medic? I roll my eyes, but don't comment. "How far are you in your own medical training?"

"Learning Mystic Palm. I still haven't gotten the mix just right," I answer, wondering at the fascination with me.

"That so?" Oi! Wide-eyed does don't belong in the fucking field! Asshole! "I can help you with that, if you want."

"After dinner. I have enough going on." Now get off my back, damn it! "Sakiko, Reika. Have you learned to read and write?"

The pair of them start fidgeting and look profoundly uncomfortable. "It's alright if you didn't. We'll talk to Yasu at lunch. I'm sure she can help." Fuck, I'm biting off **way** more than I can chew.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I growl at Hatake, well and truly pissed off with his dumb-shittery.

"You listen to me, lardass. You are going to fucking train them. And you are going to like it," I bark out, glaring at him. "And if you _even_ **consider** refusing them. You can take your bedridden ass out to catch and cook your own fucking food."

"They aren't ready to learn elemental jutsus," he insists.

"Your team isn't ready for a fucking C-rank mission. So why are we here again?" I ram the facts down his throat. He looks defiant, stubbornly deciding he's almighty and everyone's judge. "Fact is, Hatake. Your lapse in judgment is why we're all here. So man the fuck up, and teach them a damned D-rank elemental jutsu."

He grumbles, reaching for his chopsticks to start eating.

I unseal my tetsubo, glaring daggers at him. Tension and nervousness in the room skyrockets. No one wants to know what'll happen if I lose my cool just now. "Touch that food," I dare him hefting my club onto my shoulder.

"And what will you be doing while I'm busy teaching enemy shinobi?"

"You **damn well** heard the plan," I grind out through gritted teeth. I'm **tired** of his bullshit! "But fine. I'm going to teach the genjutsu users one genjutsu and the genjutsu-release. While they are practicing that, I'm going to take the weapons users and start working them through a kata. While this is going on, we have doctor dickface over there teaching the medically incline the diagnostic jutsu, and helping test them on the theory they need to know. With that going on, I have Yuki training the long-range support team in kunai and senbon throwing—using my own fucking supply, mind you. And if that isn't enough, Naruto is going to be teaching a few of them about trap laying."

"Now I **dare** you to call them the enemy again." I grip my tetsubo so tightly that my fingers' joints pop and crack under the pressure.

"They bare a slashed Mist forehead protector. What does that classify them as?" he trudges on, stubborn as a shit stain on whites.

There's a staccato of clanking-thumping sounds, drawing my attention to Yuki and the Uzumaki siblings. All three of them just slammed their forehead protectors onto the table. Michiko is quick to follow.

"That solves that. Doesn't it, Hatake." I smirk, smugly certain of where I stand with at least those four. More and more clanks fill the room as more and more of the former Mist Rebellion genins cast off their stripes. The 'chuunins' are still undecided, but I don't give a fuck. They aren't important.

No. It's the genins that matter, that will turn the tides of this clusterfuck of a mission. I may not know them all that well. But one thing a wolf knows is loyalty. These kids have seen nothing but loyalty from me. They've seen momma bringing home the bacon time and again. They've seen me do nothing but keep one promise after the other. They've seen me giving them weapons, trainings, sharing knowledge freely with them—and demanding they learn even more on top of that. I've shown them nothing but respect, and taught them how they can earn my respect. And never once have I mentioned them casting of Mist for me.

There isn't a doubt in my mind they'd follow me into battle in a heartbeat.

"Hey, Aya-sama," Michiko calls to me. I nod to show I'm listening. "You mind teaching me some stealth tactics later?"

" _Tactics_?" I ask, disgust obvious in my tone. "Show me you can handle C-rank genjutsus and I'm teaching you three stealth based genjutsus. But you need to do them seallessly before I think you're ready."

"Sealless genjutsus?" she asks, frowning thoughtfully. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she's impressed. "How many can you do?"

"Enough," I tease, winking at her with a smug little smirk.

"Aya-s—"

I growl at Haruno, glaring daggers into her.

"S-sorry. Namiki-san, why won't you answer her question?"

"Because I don't share that information with non-pack," I sneer. I take deep, soothing breaths to ease my nerves. I hate dealing with non-pack. It's too bothersome for words. "Enough questions. Eat."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 15_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: I told you, quite a bit done ^_^  
_**


	16. A time to act part 2

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 16 – A time to act part 2**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Cha… ku… ra… is… the… stuff… that… kee-ps… us… a-live." Sakiko and Reika are taking turns reading from Introduction to chakra. Sure, Yasu has to show them what each kanji means. Sure she has to help them study over three hundred of them just to get them to basic literacy. But both girls are eager to learn—I couldn't be prouder.

We had dinner together. All of us outside, under the watchful gaze of a thousand twinkling stars. After I give everyone the at-ease for the night, everyone comes pestering me for something more to learn, to study, to practice. Even Sakiko and Reika.

I organized them, given them either more theory to read up on, or a new jutsu to practice. Not everyone needs something, of course. Most of the guys are still on the tree-walking, some are on water-walking but are forbidden to try it at night. The medic is organising a group over to one side, who he's lecturing about wound care protocol and the importance of hygiene and a sterile work environment.

For the first time all day, nothing needs my direct attention. So I sit quietly to the table, tapping the little powder ball against my tanto's blade to help remove the old oil. Putting the powder ball down, I grab the cloth and hold it against both sides of my blade, rubbing it up and against the spine to remove all oil and powder in one clean swipe. Luckily I have single-edge tantos, so I don't have to worry about slicing my hand open.

With the first part done, I start methodically press-scraping the edge at an angle against the sharpening block. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, a continuous Shick-Shick staccato fills the room.

I wipe off the metal shavings with a different cloth, and apply the new oil with a third cloth. I turn my blade this way and that, checking if the coat is even, if the edge is sharpened to perfection. Satisfied with my work, I sheath my tanto and unsheathe my kodachi to start the process all over again.

"Aya-sama?" I noise to show I heard Michiko, and that I'm listening even as I tap the powder ball against the blade. "You're taking us back to Konoha with you, right?"

"That isn't for me to decide," I inform her, making sure even the little groove gets powdered. "You aren't my prisoner. So I think you should decide for yourself if you want to go to Konoha with me."

Once again, all I hear is Reika reading the next paragraph of the book, the tap-tap-tapping of the powder ball against the next side of my blade, and the thrum of the medic's monotonous lecture in the background.

"I… I w-want to go with y-you," she mutters, suddenly nervous that I might not want her to come. From the corner of my eye I can see her blushing furiously, even as she looks away from me to try hiding that.

"Then I guess you're coming to Konoha," I murmur, wiping off the powder and old oil. "I have a house there. In a nice, quiet neighbourhood on the edge of the village. More than enough space for a few extra futons. A backyard that's perfect for training. Even a little inside dojo for taijutsu and genjutsu practice. If you're interested, let me know."

"I…" she's flustered, unsure what to say or how to respond. That's exactly why I'm not suggesting she should. If she wants it, she'll come to me. If she doesn't, she won't. "What if I'm… into g-girls… w-would that be a p-problem?"

"Only if you flirt with me," I murmur, checking that the last of the oil is removed. "I'm into girls, but my heart is already set on someone." And like nothing's the matter—really, nothing _is_ the matter here—I start sharpening the edge once again.

"Hitomi-sama?" I nod, continuing with my ministrations unabated. "She lives there as well?"

"Not officially," I mutter, shrugging. Horrid for sharpening—I pull the blade back, confirming I mucked that bit up. "But, yeah. She has her own room. She'll always be welcome in my home. Naruto, too. And I have a wolf pup named Lady. She's about two months, I think, and has an issue with her leg. And two Naras. I call them the zombie sisters. They're alright, but a bit clingy sometimes."

I go back a bit, working the blade back into a grove as I sharpen it. It should even out the bit I messed up on.

"I'm bringing Yasu, Reika, and Sakiko as well. I dunno if they're into girls, but as long as they're of consenting age and willing? You can see if there's anything there."

"You're… not bringing anyone else?" she asks, shocked.

"Of those that earned the right, only they opted in. So no. No one else, as yet." I reach the end of this side, so I switch the kodachi around and start back on the other side. "Minori and Haruki have earned the right, but as yet have not asked. Yuki… well, I'll consider him when he comes clean about staring at Uchiha's ass most of the afternoon. And the ladies? I'm half convinced they won't want to live with a shinobi family, so I wouldn't bet on them."

"What if everyone opts in?" she presses. I think she's just curious.

"That doesn't matter. Unless they earn the right, they're not getting into my home. And if they all earn the right _and_ opt in?" I think about that. It'd be quite cramped if that were to happen. "I guess I'll have to buy a few of the houses on my street." Not that it's likely, but I'm willing to entertain the notion.

"I… I don't understand."

"You don't have to. Not yet," I insist. "We'll hold a meeting before heading home. Save your questions for that. And I'll need to know about anyone coming into my home. So if you plan on living with me, you play by my rules."

"What about…?"

"I know he's your family, but he hasn't earned the right. So either he earns my respect, or you accept he isn't getting in."

"He's… he's my little brother." Her eyes are moist, downtrodden. She's rubbing her thumb against the side of her sandals.

"Doesn't change anything," I press. I don't get down like that, Michiko, not even for family relations. "But I'm willing to give him a chance. You're supposed to be training with me tomorrow. Bring him along."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It's going on midnight. The moon is high in the night sky, barely an eighth full, so the stars are out in en masse. The night breeze is chilly, almost cold. And yet I refuse to go inside.

I sniff, wondering why I've received no word of Hitomi. Where is she? Is she alright? I hope she isn't injured, I still haven't worked out the kinks in the Mystic Palm.

"Please… come home to me," I offer my worries to the wind, begging it to bring the pleas of my aching heart to her.

Another half hour comes and goes. I sniff, smelling only more of the same.

 _Sigh_. "I guess she isn't coming home tonight."

I stand. My leg cramps up from the cold, so I stretch to work it out. When I'm sure it won't act up again, I start walking towards the front door, my feet clinging to the side of the building like I'm not breaking any natural laws.

With one last sniff, I turn to the door and open it as quietly as I can. Where is she?

In the sitting room, I find Hatake awake and waiting on something or someone. "Still no sign of her?"

"None," I grouse, plopping down to the table and unsealing a bar of chocolate. With little reverence, I tear into the wrapper and take my first bite. Its richness, its fullness fills my mouth and envelops my taste buds, and yet it just isn't enough.

Funny. I'd gotten so used to not tasting a thing that I'd forgotten what taste was like, all because of a woman that didn't come home to me like she promised. Yet here I am, wanting nothing more than that heartless shitball to waltz in—another woman that doesn't seem to understand I don't sleep well if I don't know how she's doing.

I know how to pick 'em, that's for sure.

"You're in love with her." I hear him, but I don't bother answering. Why would I? It's not as if it's any of his business who I love, who I want to be with, who I think about when I'm alone in the middle of the night. "I figured you wouldn't trust another Op. Not like this, at least."

"Are you bored?" I flip him off, taking another bite of my chocolate.

"Curious, is all," he claims. I snort, but don't respond. "She isn't likely to quit Anbu. Even if you ask her to."

Is he still talking?

I take another bite, wondering what to do with another sleepless night. Figuring it can't hurt, I unseal Genjutsu made easy and page through to the section on incapacitation jutsus. Hmm, here it is, chapter thirty-two—of thirty-five.

Idly chewing on my vice, I start chewing on the information hoping it distracts me. Sleeping genjutsus, muscle locking genjutsus, bio-electric inhibiting genjutsus. The choices aren't endless, and the limitations are constricting. So, I carefully go over them one by one, wondering which is the better option to learn first. Or should I learn them all and decide in the moment?

I like that better. So let's see, let's start with the bio-electric inhibitor. What part of the brain am I tinkering with this time?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"What I'm saying is that Gatou's men are getting antsy. The bandits haven't reported in, and they are seriously backed up on slaves they need exported stat," Hitomi lays it all out. I sit opposite her, unwilling to meet her gaze even in this serious a meeting.

It's not that I'm upset with her, I just don't like seeing the bags under her eyes. I don't like seeing the pink staining her sclera to show she hasn't been sleeping well. That it probably matches my own isn't helping much.

"Then we need to act," I point out. "You have a map of the compound?"

"Yeah, but we can't handle this without a solid team," she refuses my suggestion out of hand. "Who's ready for this kind of action?"

"Almost none of them. Some of them should be ready in a few days, if they learn the genjutsus I plan on teaching them. But you're talking wanton slaughter. I can't imagine any of them coping with that, unprepared as they are," I explain seriously. "What're the stats on the populous?"

"Rogues. Genins, even some chuunins. Over a hundred. All hired recently, since they haven't started killing each other yet. Or they have a stronger shinobi keeping them in line. Which could be Zubuza himself."

"No," I refute. "His sole purpose is the Mist Rebellion. He won't care for anyone that doesn't further that goal. So they're likely in it for the money. Gatou probably has a clause that killing any of his men voids their contract."

"That sounds more like him," Hatake chimes in. "Is there anything that can slow them down for a few days?"

"No. They plan on making a move _tonight_ if nothing changes," Hitomi hammers home. "Ready or not, we need to act today if we want to save lives."

"Well, then. Let's see this map." I make a gimme motion, but she only raises an eyebrow. "Forget it, Hitomi. I'm not sitting this out."

"You are not tagging along. Not this time," she fumes, fire in her eyes.

"Then you are staying your ass here," I bark right back. She opens her mouth, but I'm not having it this time. "This isn't a discussion. You said you need a solid team, and I'm telling you there's only handful here ready for this kind of thing. If you bench me, you cut into your own fingers and fuck with the success rate of the mission. Can you live with that?"

"Now, here's how this is going to happen. Michiko is with me. Naruto's taking Minori. Yuki will cover our exit in case shit goes south. That frees you up to play the go between. If you give me the map, I can figure out entry points and we can start discussing points of interest and objectives." She looks like she's about to erupt, but I can't bring myself to give a shit.

"You disagree? Alright. Name one other person here able and willing to kill fifty shinobi in cold blood," I challenge, crossing my arms and glaring at her.

Everyone fidgets, shifting nervously where he or she is—standing or sitting around the low table in the sitting room makes no difference. No one seems receptive.

"Exactly. Face it, Hitomi. We have no options left other than risking the town, the slaves we need to free, and perhaps even our own safety if their focus shifts to the bridge builder's family."

"You. Are. **Not**. Going," she grinds out.

I make the Tiger handsign, already tired of these 'negotiations'. With a flare of chakra, I cast Demonic Illusion: Short-circuit jutsu.

Her eyes go wide, her arms falling limply at her sides. She tries saying something, but the air won't come up from her lungs. Until at last she falls forwards, face-first onto the table.

I focus some chakra into my fingertip and poke her crown to disperse the genjutsu. She starts greedily sucking in air instantly.

"Wha… the hell… was that?" she gasps out, unable to decide if getting answers or oxygen is more important. She looks up at me, her eyes wide with a lining of fear.

"The reason why I can tell you for a fact: if **I** am not going, **you** are not going. End. Of. Discussion."

She continues gulping in air, mulling over what just happened. Her gaze doesn't leave mine for a second.

"Can someone tell me why my team is being excluded from the plan?" Ito elbows into the conversation, her tone amused for some reason.

"Aya's the plotter. She won't plot you in if she doesn't trust you and know your skills." Hatake is so fucking helping.

"Hey, hey… Aya-sama, you're teaching me that jutsu, right?" Michiko practically begs, grabbing my arm and trying to give me the puppy eyes treatment. She must already drooling over the possibilities.

"You have a long way to go to handle that one," I break it to her gently. I'm not telling her no, exactly. "Now, Hitomi. Are we done with the pissing match? If this needs to get done today, it doesn't leave us much elbow room."

"I…" she trails off, obviously trying to come up with a logical reason for her to go and me to stay. I raise an eyebrow. "Fine. But then you're staying with me the whole time."

"I can live with that."

"Naruto and Minori are going to be with Asami-san. That frees up Ito-san and Honda-kun. And Aomaru and Satoshi-san can cover our exit, so we'll have a medic on hand if anything goes wrong."

"That won't work. He's shown no stealth skills. Yuki has. That means they'll need to be much further back than if it's just Yuki. On top of that, the closer Yuki gets, the more his aim comes into play as a credible factor if I give him either needles or senbon. If these are indeed shinobi, we're looking at one hell of a haul. And we need that to arm the troops. So we can't take the risk," I argue my case.

"Satoshi-san?"

"W-w-well… sh-she m-may have a p-point."

"And Yuki's aim becomes even more of a boon if we lace his projectiles with something. Adding to that I have no idea how to plot for two jounins I've never met?"

"Alright, Namiki. I'm game. Jinto is a weapons user. Twin katanas. He's no Hayate, but he can hold his own. I'm a fire-release user, secondary is—"

"If you make that any more vague I'm going to scream," I cut in. "Look. Let me show you the level of detail I work with. Uzumaki Naruto. Age twelve. Jutsu specialty: shadow clone jutsu. No other jutsus of note. Natural sensor, untrained. Taijutsu: low chuunin, Mauy Thai primarily. Works with twin wakizashis, Fu Ten Mah Shao style which ties into his Muay Thai taijutsu. Low jounin trapping skills. Low jounin stealth tactics and skills. Best known for pranking. No kills to date. It's impossible to plan for him, so you give him a task and give him the known risks. He figures his way in and out, no questions asked."

"Partnering him with Minori makes sense. Because she is the same age and has the same skillset, if of a lower calibre. And she's a big sister to a boy, so she knows how stupid guys can be. She'll be in the perfect position to spot when he's being an ass, and she'll have the experience to slap it out of him."

"The idea for them is to set up a major distraction somewhere out of the way. Draw the attention of the compound, let me work from the shadows."

"That ties into my stealth and assassination skills. They distract the masses, I kill the cockroaches. Then when everything comes to a head, I come in with my Sound-Release Siren's Call and trap them in my genjutsu for the clean sweep. This is why I need Michiko, for her sensory jutsu to tell me how the plan is progressing. And when coupled with her budding genjutsu repertoire? That means she'll be learning on the job how to plan ahead and use minimal chakra to achieve maximal effect. This ties directly into my plans for her training over the coming days, and it keeps everyone out of the worst of it while I neutralize the threat."

There are nothing but wide eyes and hanging jaws. I take a deep breath, shaking my head.

"This plan allows for Yuki to isolate any plausible escape route, so that we will have a way out guaranteed if things go balls up. Which, as I already said, has the added bonus of his aim. Meaning, he can offer coverfire if it comes to that, and I can obfuscate his location with a genjutsu to offer him cover should there be none otherwise available. This allows Hitomi to use her sensory skills to keep an eye on the totality of the mission, and plan where she'll be most needed if something goes against the plan. That means, if I have the information I need, she won't need to do anything. And that, by virtue of definition, means that your skills, while undoubtedly phenomenal, are both an unknown and somewhat superfluous in this plan that is, as far as I can guess—given I still haven't seen that damn map—airtight."

I offer them a moment to wrap their brains around this. But not too long a moment.

"After taking out the shinobi, we would then take our customary hour to gauge what is desired and what is not. I will have my seals available, so up to sixty slaves can be transported stealthily, and unless they have a weapons or food store for an army many times this size, we should be able to seal their things in my storage scrolls without much of a fuss. This gives Hitomi the needed time to scout for any legal documentation that might well be there that may be of interest to your team, which would solve two problems in one go. Would it not?"

…

The only response I get is blinking.

…

Still only blinking.

…

And they wanted to leave me behind? Really? "Now about that map?"

"Note to future self. Don't mess with Namiki." Cute.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

If ever there was a time I wanted to scream bloody murder… this is it. What do I get for showing tactical prowess? The map I need to plan? No, we can't have that. The offer of lunch and a nice quiet afternoon while the others handle this without me? Yeah right, not even in my dreams.

"You heard my, Aya. I need you to figure out a plan that includes everyone here." Hitomi, you're pushing your luck with me. Seriously.

"That's not only unrealistic, it's insane," I counter. "The puts all of them in striking range of the enemy, and almost none of them are blooded. We're up against unknowns. I don't know their skills, I don't know their elements or battle preferences. And more than that, I barely know these genins'. You're expecting me to play a game of chess with all the opponent's pieces invisible, and half of mine as well. It's a suicide mission."

The room goes deathly quiet. Everyone starts looking around nervously, unsure what to make of any of this.

"The fact is, going in with a small team I can predict is the better option. Because I know the factors involved, the variables with them are all known quantities and the exceptions are obvious to me." I don't know why this is even a subject. I'm not some fucking miracle worker where I can pull a win out of my ass at every turn. "Even if the odds are in our favour number-wise, you forget that not all of them have the skills to take on enemy shinobi. That means we're looking at a coin toss with every one of their lives. Will they die? Won't they? I don't know, I can't predict that. And not being able to predict means they stay their ass here where their survival is assured. It's as simple as that."

The jounins make a face—the two unknowns have a thoughtful frown, Hataka eye-smiles… and Hitomi purses her lips into a thin line. Fucking idiots. Seriously.

I look back down at the map—a three-storey clothing factory they confiscated—with detailed notes of their patrols and all points of interests, including where the slaves are kept, the barracks, and the most common communal spots.

"So listen. Because like it or not, this is the plan. We're breaking this down into three phases. Phase One is tying the noose. Teams Hitomi and Ito will enter via entry points Alpha and Beta," I tap the two points already marked as such, both are windows left open for the sake of fresh air, "and we each have vital but opposing objectives. Team Hitomi will bring Yuki to Exit Point Omega," I tap a room on the third floor, nestled between six other rooms just like it, "which will be the only room with a window Team Ito will not trap. That means by the end of Phase One, there will only be one exit. **Do not** confuse which, because this will cost you your life." A few painful gulps, each of which gets ignored.

"Once Team Hitomi gets Yuki to the extraction point, I will cast genjutsus on all seven rooms. This is a failsafe for Yuki's safety. If any of the genjutsus are broken, they will make a loud snapping sound," I snap my fingers to simulate it, "which will alert him. This means they are onto us and he needs to spray the wall with this bottle," I toss him a spray bottle with ammonia, "to alert us it's gone balls up. Now, if you were paying attention, that means we're trapped inside with them, but that's a good thing. Just trust me, and keep in mind I planned for it."

There are a few uncomfortable murmurs, but they're still listening at least.

"Now. Once Exit Point Omega is secured, Team Hitomi will make our way down to the slave pits. There are four guards on patrol at any given time. So we need to quietly neutralize them and seal the slaves into my scroll. We'll be going in just before shift change, so after we seal the slaves we should expect the guards' relief. That means, even if the entire operation goes balls up in Phase One, we have saved lives and can comfortably damn the rest of it. So no pressure." They breathe easier, liking how I word that.

"The reason for this is as follows. Once the slaves are secured, if everything falls apart, those trapped windows can be remotely triggered. That means we can blow up the external of the building. Though it won't bring it down, it will be marked as a terrorist attack. That will fuck with Gatou's head and make him paranoid. Trust me, we want this."

"Now. Back to safety nets. There are forty-five slaves on site. That means, once sealed away, I will have an additional fifteen seals. So if everything goes balls up, I seal the weaker members away, and we fight our way out the hard way. This frees our jounins up, and that allows for everyone to get out relatively unscathed. It isn't ideal, but it raises survival rates no matter how you look at it. Now, if things start going bad. Both teams will meet up here, at Checkpoint Gamma," I tap the spot in the cellar, in the quietest corner, "where we can assess the situation and come up with a plan. I won't come up with contingencies beyond this, because we don't have enough info to do that. So we'll have to think on our feet and use our sensory advantages."

"However, you should remember that we only meet up at Checkpoint Gamma if we cannot escape through either an unmarked window, or via Exit Point Omega. Minori is a sensor, so she'll know if we're no longer in the building, and we have three sensors with us. If it goes bad and you see an easy out, take it and meet back here. No exceptions." I get nothing but nods. "Yuki. Michiko will warn you by casting a genjutsu on you remotely. If you see a red 'X' in your vision, spritz the wall with the bottle, and haul ass back here. No exceptions." He nods to shows he understands.

"Alright. Now Team Ito. You will need to start on the ground floor. The cellar has no exits, so you have four above ground floors to contend with, if you include the roof. Seeing as the slaves are in the cellar, we should have them sealed by no later than two twenty. That's the time you need to start trapping all exits. You'll have a half hour for the ground floor seeing as it has the most exit points. But you'll only get ten minutes for the upper floors. That means you need to haul ass, because we're working against the clock. If you finish a floor early, move on. We can track your progress, so don't worry about that."

"Now. Once Phase One is complete, we move seamlessly into Phase Two. No signals, just get it done. Team Ito's task is to trap two key locations with timed traps. Those two locations are the mess hall and the barracks. I don't care how you get it done, just get it done. The barracks needs to be set for four fifteen exactly, and should be set up in waves. Make each wave loud, and set them a minute apart. I want loud, I want flashy. And I want anyone in the area to notice without fail. Seven waves in total, meaning there will no longer be any signs at four twenty-two. I will discuss why that is important in Phase Three."

"Now, the mess hall is the most populated are, and that means you need to be super stealthy to pull this off. I need as many tables as possible marked with the exact same traps as in the barracks. This needs to go off at five fifteen, with the same seven waves each a minute apart. The timing is crucial, so keep that in mind." The Uzumakis nod—even Sarutobi.

"Alright. While you are busy with this, Team Hitomi will be taking out the patrols. We will start on the roof and work our way down, sealing the corpses to keep alerting anyone to a minimum. Keep in mind that if anything goes wrong at this point, we won't care. If it's too much to handle, get out. If you can handle it, wipe them out. It amounts to the same thing. Understood?" Nothing but nods.

"Good. The patrols are on or about a quarter of the population, thirty-two shinobi arranged in groups of four. Two teams per floor on average, with some teams going between floors to act as messengers. Nothing we can't handle, so don't worry about that. Their routes are all described in the scroll," I toss them Hitomi's notes, "so use that information to your advantage and keep under the radar for as long as you can. They can't know we're there until Phase Three, or it makes this so much harder."

"Right. Phase three starts at exactly four o'clock. The barracks is in the cellar, and the mess hall is on the second floor. That means they will attract any present on those floors. Team Hitomi will take out all shinobi on the ground floor, and Team Ito will take out all shinobi on the third floor. This is around the time the guards who will go on patrol are having their meeting with the higher-ups, so expect resistance. This needs to be done quietly and quickly. If you are spotted, or an alarm is set off. Don't hesitate. Get out, meet back here. No exceptions." They nod to show they're following me.

"The alarm in the barracks is set for four fifteen. Seven minutes long. And I want them tense and aware for an additional three minutes. That means I need to be there by four twenty-five. I will draw their attention and engulf all present into a genjutsu, and wipe them out while they are incapacitated. That's why the timing is so crucial, as I mentioned. It shouldn't take me more than ten minutes to clear them out. But I'm giving myself an hour to offer room for fuck ups. That means I have just under an hour to strips them of anything I find interesting before I need to be in the mess hall for five twenty-five, where I repeat the process."

"It's at this point we need to decide if there are any other shinobi present. If we're successful, we can take the hour to loot the place, though we won't need too long. We meet up here regardless of the outcome. No secondary points, because we need to treat this entire island as enemy territory. That means, without fail, everyone needs to be here by six thirty at the latest. If I find out you are a second later than that, I track you down and break both your legs. Understood?"

"H-hey!"

"Especially you, blondie. We're using this as a pilot mission to see if we can handle the bullshit that is logically to follow. Meaning any other bases they have set up, and eventually the daimyo's palace. And that's ignoring the bees nest we'll have stirred if we need to pull out, and the bandits camps they no doubt have dotting this place. We have a lot of shit going on, so I **do not** need more to worry about."

"Questions?" I look around, wondering if I was unclear. Everyone shakes their heads, no. "Good. It's nine o'clock. We leave here at one. That gives you four hours to check your gear and make whatever seals you might need."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It's one thirty. We're down the street from the rundown building we'll be turning on its head. The windows are barred up with planks of wood. The paintjob looks shoddy, too. Honestly, it looks abandoned.

It smells highly of shinobi, so I know we're at the right place. I shift the corpse scroll strung to my waist, making sure it's secure for the action that will soon begin.

The streets around here are teeming with what looks like homeless people. Everyone stares blankly with world-weary eyes. Their clothes are all worn and tattered. Their hair is matted and grimy. These are a people so beaten down they don't remember what standing tall feels like.

Curiously, there are only men and boys on the streets. I smell girls and women, but they are all kept indoors and out of the public eye—no doubt to keep them as safe as possible.

One boy makes a mad dash, smelling of freshly roasted fish and sweet potatoes. He peers this way and that to make sure he isn't spotted, before entering a shack through the window.

When I get my hands on you, Gatou…

Focus, Aya. Gatou will get his in time.

I nod to those assembled, signalling that we need to get moving.

Hitomi and Ito nod to each other, whatever that means, and Hitomi leads Yuki, Michiko, and I down an alley beside the target building.

I sniff, smelling nothing out of the ordinary, so I nod to my team. Hitomi and Michiko activate their eyes, nodding after assessing the situation. We start climbing up the wall immediately, entering the window on the second floor.

We enter without incident. We have five minutes before the patrol sweeps through here.

We move, swiftly and silently. Hitomi keeps her eyes activated, constantly monitoring our surroundings, even as we make it to the stairs and move up to the third floor. We wait at the halfway mark. A team should be in the hallway, I smell their scent growing fainter—they should be at the far end of the hall about to turn left.

Hitomi nods, so we move up into the hall and away from the patrol. We make it to Exit Point Omega. Yuki opens the door after Michiko nods to him, and closes the door behind him. So far so good.

In quick succession, I cast False Surroundings on all seven doors to make them look closed—which they are, but that isn't the point. With that handled, I then cast Snapping Twigs jutsu—it's designed to make a snapping sound on being dispelled. That means if they try to open any of the doors, they will look like they aren't moving regardless if they feel them moving. They'll notice the genjutsu and try to dispel it, and that makes the snapping noise Yuki needs to listen out for. So even if they get his door on the first try, he'll still have the heads up he needs, because they can't see him.

Not perfect, but as close to fool proof as we're likely to get.

Alright. That means our exit is all but assured. We make our way back to the stairs, quietly making our way down. Second floor. We take a left, going in the same direction as the patrol to the next stairwell to avoid the patrol on the lower level.

We head down the stairs again. Ground floor. We take a right this time, hauling ass to avoid the oncoming patrol. We enter a room halfway down the corridor and quietly close the door behind us. Muffled footsteps start up a minute later. Not too close to risk detection, but not so far as to waste too much time. I can live with that.

We wait almost five minutes, before Hitomi and Michiko nod to confirm we're good. We open the door and skulk down the corridor in the same direction we were going before. We make it to the stairs without fail, and head down into the cellar.

Okay, we're almost to the point where I can comfortably not give a shit. I'm pretty sure we can wipe out all these assholes in a frontal assault, but I won't risk any lives to figure that out.

Further and further down the dark corridor. It's starting to get dark as fuck. So I cast the night vision jutsu on myself, letting the scene light up in my eyes.

Coming up on a door. Hitomi quietly punches in the code. The door unlocks with a click, so she opens it and we storm in. The four guards expect their relief around now, so we're good. I enter ahead of my team, finding four assholes playing cards. One of them spots me, his eyes widening with shock. I cast a paralysis jutsu on him, then his buddies in quick succession. I unsheathe my tanto and slit their throats quickly, letting them bleeds out and fall to the floor in their death throes. Not like I give a shit. Short-circuit takes slightly more chakra, and we're not going to care if the room smells of death.

While they're busy with that, I'm looking around. Forty-five people divided into four cages. Men women and children. They make no distinction in who they enslave.

I unseal my prisoners' scroll and address them after Michiko closes the door. "Listen up. We're getting you out of here. I am going to make you disappear, and when you reappear, you will be in a safe location. Do you understand?"

There's a din of quiet shouting. Everyone's scent reeks of fear and discomfort. "You need to get these chains off us first," one of the men explains. "But if you don't use the right key it'll—"

"Calm down. Just walk towards me and keep your voices down." They walk as far as they can, but they are chained to the far wall. So they can only get about three quarters the way. Close enough. I start sealing them into my scroll. When I reach fifteen, I seal the scroll and unseal the next. I repeat the process until they are all sealed away, leaving the fourth scroll completely empty.

With that handled, I unseal a corpse scroll and seal the four shinobi. Just in time to hear the code being punched in. I lay the scroll on the table and turn to the door, already moulding my chakra for another series of paralysis jutsus.

I let them enter, but don't risk letting them notice anything. I paralyse them quickly and slit their throats as well. I give them a minute to bleed out.

"Don't close the door," I mutter to Michiko. There's only a code to get in, Hitomi never saw the code to get back out, so there's no point in risking us getting trapped in here. "We're on schedule."

"We are," Hitomi agrees. "Team Ito will start Phase One in two minutes. Minori already relayed the news."

I nod, liking the sound of that. We can fuck up every step of the way and I'll still consider this a win. Figuring enough time passed, I seal the four corpses and seal the scroll into my glove. That leaves an empty corpse scroll on me for patrols yet to come.

"Move out."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Cellar. Ground floor. Second floor. Third floor. The pattern remains the same. Soundlessly approach the patrol from behind, cast the Short-circuit jutsu so I don't have to spill any blood—only this time completely shutting off all bio-electrical signals and casting another paralysis jutsu to keep their bowels' and bladders' contents on the inside. I give them a minute to die, and seal them in an empty seal in one of my corpse scrolls. The only trail left behind is the scent of cortisol. Easy as pie.

"We're ahead of schedule," Hyuuga mutters as I seal the last four corpses. "You've barely used a tenth of your chakra." I nod, agreeing with her assessment.

"There's an office on this level. We're heading there now." She can't ask a question, can she. I shrug, not seeing any harm in it. "There are two teams inside. Chuunins. You will incapacitate them, but not kill them. Understood."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumble, hating this side of her.

She leads us down a corridor, to a door where she nods to me. I guess it's on me now.

Let's see. Nothing sets this door apart from all the others. I have no intel on where they are, or how large the room is. I sniff, smelling the eight she mentioned. Chuunins alright.

Hmm. I can't guarantee they won't dispel my genjutsu if they see me. I can always use Sound Release: Siren's Call—I doubt they can break out of that. But I've never casted another genjutsu while using that, and I don't have another method to knock them out.

Alright, let's try this.

I grab the handle, moulding the chakra I need for the Temple of Nirvana genjutsu. That should put all of them to sleep, and if I keep this side of the handle from vibrating then these two shouldn't get knocked out.

Alright, pulling a rabbit out of my ass, take one. Action!

I flood the room with sound waves laden with the genjutsu sequence.

Eight thuds announce their fate. Would you look at that? I didn't fuck up.

Cancelling the flow of chakra, I turn the knob and enter. Eight men sit to a round table, taking a nap in the middle of a meeting.

I go to them, quickly removing their weapons and pouches before they have the chance to wake up. "Tie them up, and seal them. We'll need to talk to them later." _Sigh_. Slave driver.

Hitomi moves to a large portrait of a man with wild, salt and pepper hair and dark shades. She swings the painting out, revealing a two by two metre safe, which she immediately starts turning the dial for.

Whatever. While she's busy with that, I take my ninja wire and start tying the men up nice and tight. I'll never understand that woman's logic. I really won't.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Phase one, successful. And ahead of schedule. So Hitomi leads us to Team Ito, cornering them just as the last seals are being placed on the third floor.

"Change of plan," Hitomi rings in the end times. "They've proven themselves capable. I want this place wrapped up within the hour."

"Care to explain that?" Ito demands, her eyebrow curiously high.

"Aya planned in more room for error than I feel is needed. I've seen Naruto and Minori performing admirably. And I've seen Aya take out every patrol and a meeting of eight chuunin without breaking a sweat. This is no longer testing them, it's wasting time. So I want to start clearing out the floors quickly."

I huff, shaking my head in annoyance. Why did I bother coming up with a plan, then?

"Alright. What's the plan?" Ito asks, liking the vagueness less than I do.

"Michiko casts the genjutsus. Asami, Aomaru, Naruto, and Minori take them out. We strip them of their pouches and weapons, and we move on. When we get to a larger group, Aya incapacitates them, and we take them out the same way. Jounins only act if it gets out of hand. Agreed?"

"Works for me. As long as you two don't involve us in any of your lovers' quarrels." I'm going to ignore that, Ito. I really am.

"Let's go." We are **definitely** _talking_ about your shitty attitude, missy.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it back to the bridge builder's house an hour and a half later. Naruto, Sarutobi, Minori, and Yuki are covered in blood, but they're smiling anyway. Does it have something to do with us freeing so many slaves? Does it have to do with us taking the food they had stored? Is it Hitomi's finally explaining them that she's going to organise a team to bring warm meals to the people?

Or is it how I kick Hitomi's shin the second we arrive at the house?

"Hey!" I ignore the complaint.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I bellow, glaring up at her as I kick her other shin—or try to, seeing as she blocked it this time. "First you don't want me tagging along. Then you agree to my plan because I planned in so much damn room for fuck ups. Then you tell me I planned in **too much** room for fuck ups! Will you make up your kami-damned mind?!"

Not even finding a room filled to the brim with shinobi tools and weapons and jutsu scrolls is calming me the fuck down.

"I made a judgment call," she defends, her face held like a porcelain mask.

"Well they're bad calls!" By now everyone's outside, staring as we argue out in the open. "First you underestimate my tactical prowess. That's on you. Then you underestimate my battle prowess. That is also on you. Then you call me out on being cautious during a fucking mission. When we both fucking know I was being that cautious because of your overprotectiveness. I don't give a flying fuck if that's how you are on missions. You **do not** pull that shit with me!"

"Genin Namiki!" she bellows, glaring down at me. "As a jounin—"

"Fuck rank!" I bellow right back, my hands balled at my sides and every muscle in my body tensing. "You think I'm here because of orders?! You think Hokage-dono has the sway to pull half of the shit you pull?!"

She just stands there, her eyes blank and her stance stoic as ever.

"You need to make up your damn mind, Hitomi," I mutter, shaking my head in disgust. "Because I am not your pup. You are not my alpha. And quite fucking frankly, if you don't know by now that I'm protective of your heart… then I don't know what the fuck to tell you."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 16_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Not having internet might well have been a good thing. What do you think?  
_**


	17. Hitomi: Déjà vous

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 17 – Hitomi: D**_ _ **é**_ _ **j**_ _ **à**_ _ **vous**_

 _ **Hyuuga Hitomi's Point of View Chapter**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Duty and honour. Those two words have been hammered into me from the time I could walk. The day Hiashi-sama branded me with the mark of a slave, he said those words as well. That it was a mark that symbolized my honour and my duty to fulfil the needs of the main house.

I thought I was fulfilling that—both duty and honour. After eight years of service in Anbu Ops. After having gained much honour in my unrelenting service to Konoha. After having achieved the rank of jounin, no less—a prestigious title few ever obtain.

Yet here I am, in turmoil over the words of a twelve year old. A genin with barely two months of service behind her.

 _"You need to make up your damn mind, Hitomi," she mutters, shaking her head in disgust. "Because I am not your pup. You are not my alpha. And quite fucking frankly, if you don't know by now that I'm protective of your heart… then I don't know what the fuck to tell you."_

What do I do with that? What do I make of her? She's done nothing but surprise me at every turn. She's done nothing but trump my every expectation.

A genin that openly refuses to follow Hokage-sama's orders. A little girl that dares to stand tall in a world where women are of lower status, lower rank, lesser importance. A clanless denizen of the Village Hidden Among the Leaves that doesn't bow to a soul, be they clan head or village head. Hell, I get the impression she'd slap a daimyo if he dared get fresh with her.

Like mother, like daughter. Miwako-sensei wasn't any different.

I look up, over at the futon where Aya sleeps. Even now, even with her being upset with me. She refused to not be in the same room with me as she sleeps. So even though I sit beside the door with my katana resting against my shoulder, she still brought her futon out here to keep an eye on me. It's like she thinks I'm made of glass, that I'm the one that needs protecting.

Or is it…

No, Hitomi. You have a mission. Stop getting entangled in emotion. Losing focus will cost lives, a risk you cannot take.

Her chest rises and falls. Her face, though still covered by her mask, is at perfect peace. She hasn't muttered once in her sleep since we left Konoha. She hasn't had a single nightmare or woken up screaming even once.

Shikaku-sama was right, getting her away from Konoha has done her a world of good. I've seen her mellowing a little more with each passing day. And Yoshino-sama, even more so. Ordering her to act boyish in Saimogo almost instantly got her to act girly. Just like the little girl I met that day, all those years ago.

I remember… Miwako-sensei had invited me to dinner, but advised me that a Namiki 'pup' can be quite volatile. Her Aya-chan was no exception, she warned. She even went so far as to point out that she bit Itachi the first time he came over—hard enough to draw blood.

And yet, when I laid eyes on her, all I saw was a little girl. A little girl with yellow-brown eyes and an insatiable curiosity. That she was wearing a pink sundress with a pink flower braided into her hair wasn't lost on me either. Nor was the fact that she carried that bear of hers, already missing an eye, everywhere she went.

She used to giggle for every little thing, and she always had her nose in a book. Not story books, mind you. Medical books. Chakra theory books. Wolf psychology books. Profiling books.

"How come you don't read fairy tales?" I remember asking her one evening after dinner.

"Huh? Which one?" I took her into her mother's office, and we started looking through the books set there. Nursery rhymes, fairy tales, old folklore stories. I pointed them out one by one, but the response was always the same: "Read it."

Figuring she was lying about it, I asked, "Oh yeah? So what did you think of the ugly duckling?"

"I think he's silly. A baby swan doesn't look anything like a baby duck. So why didn't he think he wasn't a duck? I mean, I know the moral was about how you shouldn't worry if you don't fit in, but that's a pretty stupid way to say it."

With every story I questioned her about, from Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes to classics like Peter Pan and Wendy. Every time I asked her about it, she not only proved she knew the story, but that she thought about the allegory—though she never used that word specifically—and she had formed an opinion on how to apply that to her life, if she found anything interesting.

Four years old, and she had read more books than I. Four years old, and she was tired of rereading more books than I've read. Four years old, and she was trying her hand at books that I wondered if I would understand, about subjects as obscure as wolf psychology.

And here I am, eight years after meeting her that first time, and I'm no closer to understanding a thing about her.

If I speak to her the way sensei used to, she bristles and acts out—she never dared try that with sensei. If I try to protect her, she bristles and acts out. If I pull rank, more of the same. If I order something be done, no different. Why?

Is it because I am not her alpha? But if I'm not her alpha, why does she listen to me? I mean, not even Shikaku-sama and Yoshino-sama can claim she listens to them. They can present the situation in a way she won't act out over, but that isn't the same thing.

She's proven to me time and again that she listens to me. She even admitted that I get away with things no one else could dream of. Why? What's so different about me?

I shake my head, unable to make sense of the jumbled puzzle snoozing before me. Maybe I'll make sense of her when we get back to Konoha. I certainly hope so.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After breakfast, I sit on the roof of the house with Ito-san, Honda-san, and Kakashi-san. We're meant to discuss what I found out from those rogue chuunins, and Kakashi-san's recovery. Technically, we're also supposed to discuss what we found, but Aya refuses to unseal her storage scroll until I apologize.

"There are six more compounds like we raided yesterday," I begin, hoping to steer this meeting into safer waters than my not reining in my charge. "None house shinobi, so we should be able to organize teams to clear them out today. Aya agrees that the genins are ready for that." I wince slightly, wondering why I brought up Aya's opinion on the matter.

"That's good," Honda-san comments, unreadable as ever. "Any suggestions on how we should handle that?"

"Ah," Kakashi-san chimes in. "Each of you takes a team. Medic-san takes a team. Asami takes a team. And Aya takes a team. That rounds off to roughly nine genins per team with one team leader. We should have all six compounds cleared before the day is out this way."

I agree with his logic. So why is my chest tighter than it was a moment ago? This isn't the time to get emotional, Hitomi. This is a mission, don't slip up.

"Agreed. This way we start putting a major dent in Gatou's stranglehold on the country."

"It doesn't take into account that there might be prisoners or hostages," I point out. "We risk innocent lives with this course of action."

"I disagree," Ito pipes up. "Three teams will have a jounin leader who can assess any situation they encounter. Two teams will have chuunins who have lead teams in the past, and both have good heads on their shoulders. And Namiki-san?" I wince, hating that she picks out my objection.

"Can you imagine her team failing if she has proper intel?" Ito concludes, shrugging nonchalantly as if agreement with her assessment and sanity are one and the same.

"So we hold a meeting later and decide which team is taking which compound," Kakashi-san marches right along, unaffected. "How are we dividing the genins among the teams?"

"Good question." Does no one see that Aya isn't ready to lead a team? Or am I the only not seeing that she is? "If we aren't careful, everyone's going to want to be on Aya's team. I mean, just look how she has them vying for her attention."

"I think she should take the genjutsu users," Honda-san argues, at least partly agreeing with Ito-san. "I mean, think about how fierce a team they'd become if they learn half of the genjutsus Aya's been using lately."

I peer down at Aya, seeing her standing on the water and explaining something to Sakura-san. For some reason, the other genjutsu users are getting excited, all coming to her and begging her for something. Aya shrugs, moving to the dock and unsealing her storage scroll—the same one she refuses to unseal for me—and unseals the bag with trench knives. She gives all of the genjutsu users a pair before resealing bag and scroll.

She even starts showing them moves, though only blocks—both defensive and offensive—using both blade and brass knuckles.

"So what do you think, Hitomi-san?" I turn back to the conversation, wondering what I missed. Ito-san looks at me expectantly. "About the suggestion. To have Aya assign the genins to a team."

"Give her the opportunity, and see if she can handle it." To see people fighting so hard to be recognized by an outsider. Aya, you are truly your mother's daughter. Does that mean you'd spurn Konoha for the one you love?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"That's the stupidest plan I've heard all day," one of the genins complains. Everyone around him is nodding, mirroring the sentiment. "Gimme one good reason why I can't be on Namiki-sama's team?"

"Because there are six targets, and six teams," Kakashi counters smoothly. "Aya-chan is only leading one of those teams, so obviously not everyone can be on that team. So Aya herself is going to assign you to a team. Or are you saying you don't trust her judgment?"

"Don't twist his words, Hatake," Aya growls, glaring at him. When he smiles at her, she waves him off and steps forward to address the troops.

"Listen up! Like it or not, Hatake makes sense! We need those compounds dismantled, stat! That means it's more efficient to split into six groups! So I expect all of you to give this your all! The people of Wave are counting on you!" The genins are getting pumped up, it's almost as if they look forward to the plan they hated a moment ago. "I! Am counting on you!"

A buzz of excitement ripples through the yard. Everyone's eyes are alight with a passion that I hadn't expected.

"We're going to start with a few changes! First off! I trust the medic to keep people alive, but he's no leader! Second! Ito and Honda! Though they are leaders, they will not be leading my people!" She turns, glaring at the three of them, daring them to challenge her. "In their place! Michiko, Minori, and Yuki will lead their respective teams!"

"H-hey!"

"Can it, lava boy! If you have an issue with that, you can stay the fuck here!" The protester quiets down, but he certainly doesn't look any happier. "Keep in mind! Ito, Honda, and medic-san are still going with you! They will check if your plan is solid! And I do not doubt they will keep you safe! But you will be led by Michiko, Yuki, and Minori!"

Aya pauses, waiting to see if anyone else will object. No one does.

"Moving on! I will not get tangled up in who is going where! I will assign a few of you, for reasons! Haruki! You're going with Minori!" The redhead cheers, hugging his sister as he beams up at her. She pets his hair, just as happy with the arrangement. "Ii! You'll be with me!"

"Alright!" A blue-haired boy pumps his fist, grinning from ear to ear.

"Naruto! You're with me!" The brash blond cheers, just as happy. "Girls! You're going to be with Yuki!"

"Heh. Guess I won't have to worry about some jerk staring at me," a brunette jokes, wrapping an arm around her fellow brunette's middle.

"Uchiha! You'll be with Yuki, as well! And I don't want to hear about any of the girls staring at his ass! You either Yuki!"

"Ah man! Come on, Namiki-sama! Don't stick us with the deadweight!" the same brunette complains.

"Say that after you prove you can keep up with him, Kichi! Yuki! Do you have a problem with this assignment?!"

"No, Aya-sama. I'm good."

"That solves that! Lava boy! You're with me! And if you piss me off, I'm breaking your baby maker!"

"You can count on me, Namiki-sama!" the redhead looks about ready to cream his pants.

"Team leaders! I do not have to tell you that there is a good chance for innocent bystanders to be present! But the genins here should be aware of this as well! Attack nothing that doesn't bare its fangs! But if it so much as growls at you?! I will not be upset if you cut it down! Is that understood?!"

"Yes, Namiki-sama!" all the genins answer as one.

"Alright! That's as far as conflict control goes! Every team will have a maximum of ten people! The only team no longer accepting members is Yuki's team! So I will allow you all to choose for yourself which team you will be on! If there are any that have no team, you will be coming with me! You have thirty seconds! MOVE!"

It's barely a moment later that nine of them stand before me. All weapons users, if I recall correctly. I listen idly as they brag about 'getting' Namiki-sama's lover? I narrow my eyes at that, before flicking my gaze to Aya. I know she hasn't called me that, but is that how the world sees us?

Lovers?

Is that why she listens to me? She sees me, not as her alpha, but as someone she could spend her life with?

 _Sigh_. Anbu training didn't equip me for things like this.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it to the compound quick enough. I scan the place and start making a map for my team. We start discussing patrol routes, potential hotspots, and a plan to get everyone in on the action. I split them into three teams of two and one team of three, telling them which wall they're to scale. I inform them they have ten minutes to clear out the camp before I get involved, and that Aya's not going to take kindly to any of them getting injured—for some reason that makes them promise they'll be extra careful.

It's a really small compound. Barely three hundred square metres. This should be over quickly.

"Alright, everyone in position. Infiltration starts in sixty seconds. Go," I order. They bob their heads to me—being vaguely respectful towards me—before heading off to do as they're told.

I activate my Byakugan once again, seeing the entire compound come into focus at once. I see all of them quickly getting into position, bobbing their heads as they mutely count down.

Curious, I shift my focus to the compound down the street. They'll be alright. It's Aya that worries me. She's discussing something with her team—she took fifteen genins herself, but she doesn't seem overwhelmed by it.

Her target compound has nearly triple the manpower as mine. Can she handle that? Will she be alright without me?

Time. I shift my focus back onto my team, seeing them scaling the wall as one. I watch as they behead the guards on the wall, as they rain kunais down on the guards in the courtyard. They make their way down, slashing through anyone that dares resist. The woman that was being handled roughly a moment ago gets one of the boys to guard her, assuring her that she's safe and that they won't let anything happen to her—she starts crying out, telling them that her husband and daughter is still inside somewhere, if I'm reading her lips right.

By the time the boy explains that his comrades will keep them safe, the rest of the team has already cleared out the guards inside, and have surrounded the leader of the compound. They're efficient, I'll admit. I guess that's my signal.

I body flicker up the wall, down into the courtyard and into the sole building to back them up. The burly man is just reaching for the little girl—no doubt the woman's daughter. I body flicker to her picking her up as gently as I can while unsheathing my katana.

"Hey, sweetie. That was your mom we saw outside, right?"

"U-uh huh," she agrees, bobbing her head. "And that's my dad." She points to a man cowering to one side with one of the boys motioning for him to calm down.

"I see. Well how about this. Why don't you and your dad wait outside with your mom? I'm sure she's worried sick about you," I offer, gently setting her on her feet.

"R-really? Y-you won't h-hurt us?"

"No. We won't. Come over her, sir," I call to the man. The boy with him helps him to his feet and motions him over to me. He's slow do act, but he does come all the same. "Take your daughter and wait outside. We will be with you shortly." The man doesn't need to be told twice, it seems. He has tears in his eyes as he picks the little girl up, kissing her cheek and brow over and over and over as he makes his way outside.

Curious, I check on Aya's team again. Aya herself is standing on the wall, overseeing her team as they lay waste to the guards.

 _Sigh_. I wish that girl would be more considerate of my concerns.

"Well, that just leaves you," I drone. "Unfortunately, you have no intel we need." I rush him, beheading him in one go.

He drops, his body twitching franticly.

"Alright, boys. I'll see to cleanup in here. Back into the courtyard. I want those guards stripped of their weapons, and I want someone talking to that family about what they were doing here. If they ask, tell them I will be out shortly, and they should be allowed to leave after that."

"Yes, ma'am!" they answer as one, heading out. I've dealt with Anbu teams that were less effective than this. I really should compliment Aya on her training skills. Curious, I check on Aya again. She's standing in the courtyard, pacing back and forth as she explains something to a group of men on their knees. Every member of her team stands at attention behind her, some looking sick to their stomach but they all look physically fine.

Sigh. I'd better go check that safe. And I really want to go check on Aya. She won't get into her safe without my help…

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

When it's all said and done, every compound was cleared out in no time at all. Aya and my teams go around checking if everyone's alright, and I do my magic on the safes once again—not surprisingly, Aya seals everything into her scroll for safekeeping, even going so far as to swat me for daring to touch an envelope. We interview quite a few families that were present at the time of our raids, but they were all brought in by force so they are allowed to walk away.

On arriving back at Tazuna-san's home, Aya has all the genins lined up outside. One of them was injured—on Ito's team. Nothing serious, a few flesh wounds.

"It's alright," Aya assures him, smiling brightly. "We'll have you patched up in no time." With that she activates the Mystic Palm jutsu. I didn't know she learned it.

Aya goes over each of his injuries, one by one, her face pinched in concentration, as if she's not used to the influx of information. She… looks cute when she's like that.

It's over all too soon, and she unseals a first aid kit, instructing the boy to lift his shirt. She takes out a disinfectant, wiping him down before she wraps gauze over the pink slits of new skin.

"You're going to skip training today and tomorrow. We can't risk these wounds opening again, okay?" He grumbles, but he doesn't fight her. "Good. I want you reading up on elemental theory. You can't train, but I see no reason you can't study to become our resident badass."

"N-Namiki-sama!" he protests, flushing and shaking his head as if trying to clear the cobwebs.

"It's true. From what Minori tells me, you were injured saving her life. If that isn't badass, I don't know what is," she assures him.

Her eyes light up, twinkling bright like a clear, moonless night. Her mask crinkles up, showing she is smiling with her lips as well. Even without seeing her face, I see her utterly change—like she's glowing brighter than the sun.

I have to remind myself to breathe, even as I wonder at the warmth swimming in my chest.

"Aw, that just ain't true. She was distracted when they came after Haruki-kun. Ain't nothin' to it," he plays it down, looking even more flustered as he rubs the back of his head.

"Maybe," she shrugs, leaning in and kissing his brow. "But thank you all the same."

"H-hey! I got messed up, too!" Another boy tries, suddenly holding his side as if wounded.

"Yeah, m-me too!" comes another plea. "Nearly lost an arm back there!"

"If I find out you're faking it, I'm going to make sure you really are injured!" she threatens, glaring daggers at them. They start fighting about who she can check first—shoving the other and insisting they'll be alright waiting. "That's what I thought! Get back to training, you slackers!"

"Hey, Katara! Get your ass over here, I see you trying to hide that limp," Aya orders him over to her. The same one she called 'lava boy' not two hours ago, she's now referring to by his family name. Curious. "You, too, Ii! I told you I'd look at that bruise later. It's later. And no, I will not hear any crap about you being 'just fine'! If anyone here dares to hide even an insignificant injury from me, I'm going to be **pissed**!"

Namiki Aya. The more I get to know you, the less sense you seem to make.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Dinnertime rolls around, finding us all outside under the watchful gaze of a thousand distant suns. Aya decides no one's allowed to sit beside me but her, but refuses to touch me all the same. Reika comes sitting to her other side, and little Sakiko claims her lap. The pair of them strum up a conversation with her, taking turns telling her about their day and Reika talks about 'the scarecrow' that taught her how to sharpen her tanto.

Everyone seems lively, even Sakura-san—she's quietly beaming between Naruto and Sasuke-san, not really paying either boy any mind.

More curious than anything, are the thugs that keep insisting they work for 'Namiki-sama'. They've not stopped bragging about how hard they're working on the bridge, and how there have been more and more villagers showing up to help.

"I'd keep an eye out tomorrow," Aya teases, looking at Tazuna's helpers. "With most of Gatou's thugs out of the way? I don't doubt things will only get better. And that reminds me. Boys, starting tomorrow we're going to work shifts patrolling the town. We'll discuss teams, rotations, and routes in the morning. Alright?"

Everyone looks happy about that, especially Tazuna-san and his daughter.

"Hey, Aya-sama. Doesn't it make sense to bear some kind of mark so everyone will know we're part of the same group?" Michiko-san asks, looking a little nervous about that for some reason.

"I agree with you," Aya begins, her eyes skimming over the group and their wordless pleading. "But not everyone here has earned the right to bear my stripes. Would you risk jealousy just to find out who among you has earned a place in my pack?"

"Has… Minori earned that right?" Katara-san asks, looking down at the table in front of him.

"No. She hasn't. I trust her, I respect her. Hell, I'll even go so far as to say she's practically family, but that's for a different reason than her being pack." I narrow my eyes, wondering about that. I thought the two concepts—'pack' and 'family'—were the same to a Namiki.

"Huh?" Okay, I'm not alone in my confusion.

"It's… it's alright, Aya," Naruto offers, looking a little flustered. "Aya's talking about a Minori and Haruki being distant relatives of mine. They aren't pack, because they haven't earned the right. But I'm pack, so they're still under her protection. You see?"

The former Mist rebels all make a noise and shrug it off—some pat Ii Zeitou on the back, calling him lucky for his big sister. But all of the Konoha shinobi are wide-eyed and nervously looking between Naruto, the Uzumaki siblings, and Sarutobi Asami—who looks too much like Minori for coincidence to be called into play.

"Something on her face?" Aya demands, growling at Sakura-san. Some of the guys are already cracking their knuckles, ready to smack her for being disrespectful.

"N-no… s-sorry." Sakura-san's eyes keep flicking back and forth, obviously coming to some kind of conclusion, though I won't claim to know what that is.

"If you are going to jump to conclusions, Haruno. I suggest you do so with more than a suspicion," Aya presses, staring her down. Sakura-san starts to fidget under her gaze, but Aya doesn't let up. "Some things tend to bite you in the ass. So you might want to be careful."

Hmm? Don't get me wrong, it isn't hard to tell Asami-san isn't your typical Sarutobi. But why would Hokage-sama lie about something so scandalous as having an outside child?

It caused quite a ruckus, from what I've heard. Especially seeing as he just lost his wife.

Well, either way it isn't my problem. And I don't plan on changing that any time soon.

"I-I understand, Namiki-san," Sakura-san assures her, bobbing her head almost like a mini bow. There seems to be more going on than an apology. This feels more like a promise to keep her silence on whatever it is that she suspects—probably the resemblance.

"Alright. Now back to the real topic. Those who've earned the right. Does everyone really want to know? Knowing that they might be one that hasn't?" I agree, Aya. Dwelling is pointless.

"J-just… just to be sure. What do we risk if we aren't part of your pack?" Katara-san asks, his face pinched from nervousness.

"Hmm? Michiko was asking about that just yesterday…" Aya trails off, seemingly thinking about that. "Well, it's like this. I have a home in Konoha. Nine bedrooms, so quite a bit of space. Those I consider pack are of course welcome to live in my den. Those here that would accept me as their alpha, but aren't considered pack? Well, I'd have to make arrangements for them, now wouldn't I."

My eyes bulge. Is she…?

"It isn't as simple as I make it sound, of course. I mean, joining Konoha as former rogues is tricky business. But given you guys are just genins, you might be able to get in easier. There's still a probationary period, of course. And mandatory interviews. But overall? Yeah, you can expect a roof over your head and a warm meal on the table either way."

Everyone beams, chuckling as the tension leaves them at last.

"And if any of you slackers even question training, you're going to start doing twice as much as ordered!" Aya belts out, glaring at two guilty looking guys down the line. They exchange a look, bursting out laughing at Aya's warning.

"So," one of the brunettes begins, furrowing her brow in thought, "either way, you'll take care of us? You'll make sure we don't go hungry? That we'll have a doctor tend to us? That we won't spend a night in the cold?"

"Has one of you suffered an injury I haven't tended to?" Aya counters. The boys that were injured grin, shaking their heads, no. "Has one of you missed a meal?" Thoughtful frowns turn into quiet smiles as the tension evaporates entirely. "And though most of you sleep outside these nights, has anyone been cold?"

I smile. Seeing a bunch of kids that the world decided it didn't need, seeing them find someone that will take care of them. It's…

"I'm not here trying to talk you into anything," Aya insists. "But you need to see for yourself what you are getting into with me. Because out here it's about your survival. If you come to Konoha under my protection? It's not about you anymore, it's not about me anymore. It would then become a Namiki family issue. And that means my honour and duty becomes providing for any and all that accept me as their alpha."

It's as if Aya sees the world through different eyes, as if the world is inverted to her. Where the strong protects the weak, where the top of the social ladder provides for the bottom. Where her subordinates aren't her servants and playthings, but rather her children in desperate need of love and affection and guidance, and she is all too willing to give them that and so much more.

Just like her mother, I swear.

"So, Michiko. Remember how I said we'd hold a meeting?" The blue-haired girl bobs her head, her eyes a little shinier than before. "Let's hold that meeting after we eat. We don't want the food to get cold, after all. And I want everyone to attend. What I have to say affects us all."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I've never seen a group so eager to finish a meal. Even though they all have seconds and thirds—other than the civilians—they almost race through their meal to get to their intellectual desserts.

"So, Namiki-sama?" the brunette begins, looking around to confirm no one yet holds their chopsticks.

"Agreed. Time for show and tell. So here's how we're going to do this. I will start by explaining the Namiki's standing in Konoha, and I will try to explain why this is so. I will stick only to facts, but because this is about politics and shinobis being assholes, facts aren't always available, so please be patient with me. I will warn you openly if I don't have the facts and only suspect something. Does this sound fair?" I narrow my eyes. A kunoichi that is willing to play with open cards? Will she really tell the story as is?

There are nothing but nods as everyone's eyes grow more and more curious. They feel the same way, it would seem.

"I'm afraid this isn't a happy tale. I am little more than Konoha's little treasure chest and cumbucket." Every female sneers, as do I. "Don't form an opinion yet. Hear me out. You see, the Namiki family has produced nothing but Anbu captains since Konoha had an Anbu. Our natural state of being agrees with Anbu conditioning and training. And we ourselves are sensors, and proud apex predators. So they want me to start pumping out babies. The council has been pestering me to pick a husband for years. Offering me nothing but their best. Because the last three generations of Namiki have only produced a single daughter, for one reason or another. They want an army of little Namikis as badly as they want the same for Uchihas and Hatakes. Because we produce only the best hunters."

They settle down, but I'm still tense. The 'treasure chest' still hasn't been explained.

"And I am a treasure chest because of who my mother was," she continues, her eyes suddenly holding great pain. She's quick to shake it off, though. "You see. The Namiki family has always been close to the Uzumaki clan." Sakura-san and Sasuke-san look at their teammate curiously, obviously wondering what else they didn't know about him. Him being part of a clan isn't public knowledge after all.

"They've hired our shinobi for hundreds of years to guard what matters most to them: their children. Of course, they never said it like that. They told any and all allies that we guard 'their treasure'. So fast forward to me. I am the last of the Namiki. And in Konoha, Naruto is the last of the Uzumaki. My mother was assigned the position of shadow guard. A hereditary position the Uzumaki have always hired us on for. That means she was in charge of guarding Naruto from the day he was born. And this was to continue until he was old enough to protect himself. She died. So it fell to me. I've been guarding him since I was six years old."

Breathe. Hitomi, just breathe. You're still on duty. Getting emotional now is going to dull your senses. Just breathe.

"But this is more complex than just that. Because of who else my mother was. You see, she was by far the most trusted shinobi of none other than Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash. As you no doubt know, he died twelve years ago. But what's important here, is that he has no known children. Why is that important?" She scripted this talk. She's carefully measuring what she says and doesn't. "Because everyone wants his private jutsu library."

All shinobi—other than the jounins—gasp, seeing where this is leading.

"The majority of Konoha's council tried raiding the Fourth's home, seeking that library." Another gasp, but this time many sneer. To disrespect their village leader like that? I don't blame them. I was no different when Miwako-sensei told me that. "Their motives might vary from person to person, but the actions remain the same. And yes, even the Haruno and Uchiha have tried, so you two should best keep your high horse in the barn."

Sasuke-san and Sakura-san look crestfallen, though he hides it better.

"Now, that leaves everyone with a mystery. It's not in his house. They have no leads. And there were no clues left behind." I sneer, seeing where this is going. "So naturally, the assumption becomes: he must have given it to his most trusted shinobi. My mother. And when she died, that means the person that must be in charge of guarding it, must be me."

All non-Konoha persons glare at all Konoha persons, clearly incensed.

"So. Here we have a now twelve year old girl, that they believe guards the most desired hidden library outside of the Uchiha and Senju clans. And women in Konoha aren't magically treated better than anywhere else in the Elemental Nations. We are still of lower standing. We are still expected to marry and pop out babies at our husband's bidding. We are still subservient to men. So what happens if you combine Konoha wanting more Namiki babies, with Konoha thinking I guard the Fourth's library?"

"A treasure chest and cum bucket," comes the only logical conclusion. I'm too busy glaring at my chopsticks to notice who said it, though.

"Exactly. And this is where it becomes important for you to understand. You see, I am legally an adult. They cannot force me into anything. So they have started fighting dirty. Dirty enough to assault Naruto, beat him to within an inch of his life. Tie him up and dump him in a dark alley behind a dumpster, leaving him for dead." The urge to slaughter all of Konoha almost becomes too much.

Deep breaths. Dee~eeeeeeeep breaths.

"That's why I left Konoha for a while. Because the few allies I have need to deal with that latest attempt. After all, saving Naruto that night? That was the first time I ever broke a bone. Three fingers on my left hand, each phalange broken." The exact reason I demanded I be the one to take Aya. No one could guard her as I will.

"I'm telling you this, because if you come with me you not only accept my duties. You accept that you may well become the next target. And you need to be fully aware of the underhanded bullshit tactics they've been using. They've gotten so desperate that they got my doctor to try to turn me against my allies. They want me isolated, they want me alone. Because they think I am just some weak-willed little twat that can't do anything for herself. Believe me, if you come with me, they will try to show me in exactly that light: weak, pathetic, subhuman. They will try to convince you I am using you, that I am nothing but a devious manipulator, and that you have every right to want me dead."

I have to force my hands not to ball into fists, fearing I'll break something—whether skin, a bone, or an object near me is irrelevant at this point.

"Because if they can get into your head, if they can get you to want to get revenge on me for whatever reason. Then they can convince you to spy on me, to see if there is any truth to the claims. To get you to put something in my drink so I'll be putty in their hands. Or they'll get you to come to a meeting, and simply kidnap you. Hold you hostage to force my hand, whether into marriage or into giving up whatever they believe I possess is beside the point."

I hear laboured, enraged breathing coming from most of us. How the hell has she survived with the deck so clearly stacked against her?

"That is why I wouldn't dare turn you away if you were to accept me as your alpha. I'm too desperately in need of allies I can trust. And those I can trust are few and far between." She pets Sakiko and Reika's hair, smiling as warmly as she can, given the circumstances. "That is why, if you come with me, I will need you to grow strong. I will need to make you some of the best shinobi Konoha has ever seen. Because if I don't, your chances of survival under my care are bleak."

There's a long moment when all that can be heard are the singing of crickets and the croaking of frogs.

"So that's why you're so careful," Michiko grumbles, staring at her hands folded on the table in front of her. "Why you've been studying us."

"No. Not at all. I was planning on teaching you to survive and part ways. Hitomi asked me to study you, to profile you, so we'd stand a chance against Gatou and his goons." I turn to her, wondering why she isn't using this as an easy in to gain their trust. "Some of you simply caught me by surprise. You showed me the same fire I see in myself. And you have been stealing slivers of my respect ever since. Quite annoying, really."

A low whistle fills the night air. "You're being straight with us," the brunette breathes, her face slack from shock. "Everything you just said is true, isn't it."

"It is," I agree, feeling even worse I wasn't there for Aya from the start. To place such a burden on a five year old… what is Hokage-sama thinking? What was sensei thinking…?

"Let's put this another way," Aya suggests. Sakiko turns in her lap, snuggling up to her as Aya wraps her arms around the slight girl. "This is going to be unfair, but that's fine by me. I want you to ask yourself this: am I telling you this because I trust you, or because I want to start fucking with Konoha's Civilian Council? After all, Haruno's clan has been the biggest thorn in my side since I can remember."

Everyone glares at poor Sakura-san, who closes in on herself.

"Or maybe it's to have Ito and Honda inform their clans that I'm ready to start making moves. Their clans have been equally manipulative, after all." The two jounins look uncomfortable, though they hide it well. "Hell, maybe it's to manipulate Uchiha there into forming an alliance with me so we can fuck over the council together." Sasuke-san snorts, shaking his head in amusement.

"People have come up with even more asinine theories, and if you come to Konoha they will gladly tell you these and more. After all, they will no doubt hear every detail of what I've accomplished here. They will no doubt hear exactly how I handle myself, how I rally former enemies and can turn them into allies. And they will see the potential I've shown as an even greater threat than anything I've shown thus far."

"Wh… what do you mean?" Reika stutters out, her gaze fixed on Aya. She really is laying her cards on the table here. What is wrong with her?

"When I was just a hapless Academy student, the clans fought amongst themselves. I became a nuisance when Naruto got into trouble the day I graduated. I took out a chuunin to protect him. I showed skill. Then with team placement, a storeowner attacked Naruto. I fucked him up, and Naruto got into trouble. I had to show I know about my family's history to keep him safe, specifically my being his shadow guard. That means I know things I claimed ignorance to for years. That puts me into the growing threat category. I showed even more skill, because two worthless Anbu Ops thought I was ornamental and tried to force him to attend a criminal hearing. That means I've been holding back even more than they suspected."

The crowd is riveted by how she weaves her tale. The sad part, she isn't wrong. She's been constantly showing more and more, becoming a bigger and bigger threat.

"So what's your plan? When you get back to Konoha, I mean," Michiko studies Aya, dissecting everything Aya offers them. Is she planning on overwhelming all potential leaks with more information than they can handle? What is her angle?

"My plan? Well, that depends on you guys." This is like watching a tennis match, where she's the only player and the ball is a stick of dynamite. "Maybe I want to apply for clan status, but that requires both civilians and shinobi. So I'd need quite a few of you to join me."

All eyes are on Sakiko and Reika. Sakura-san becomes nervous, already noticing that those two haven't so much as hinted they don't want to go with her, and them wearing Aya's clothes isn't helping the imagine any.

"Maybe I want to start returning the favour to those that have haunted my every waking moment. After all, I know Haruno will report everything to her parents. She's too much their pet not to."

Sakura-san looks sick to her stomach, not even noticing she's once again being glared at.

"Or maybe… maybe I want it all. Maybe I want to be surrounded," she motions to the group, "by my pack. To have someone," she nods to Yasu-san, "there when I come home. To have a little brat," she kisses Sakiko's brow, not seeming to mind the girl yawning, "to train. To have a little sister," she runs her hand over the cloth covering Reika's hair, "that needs me to be the best version of myself. To have someone," she leans against my arm, which snakes around her waist without my say-so, "who wants to be with me."

"I need to **know** , Aya-sama," Michiko presses, not liking 'maybe' and 'perhaps'.

"You want to hear my plan?" Aya teases, smirking. Everyone is suddenly on the edge of their seats. The bluette nods. "If I can get three shinobi and three civilians to join me, I apply for shinobi clan status. That gets me a seat on the Shinobi Council, so I'll have a bird's eye view of the plots in play against me. That gives me the right to start buying up land around my home so I can turn them into a compound, and not just a plot of land. If I can get enough people under the Namiki clan banner, I gain more power, and I can use that power to create a safety net for when I decide I'm ready to have pups. Into girls or not, I want babies. And if I play my cards right, I can use my status as clan head to refuse any non-wartime missions. Meaning I get to stay home and train my people until they are the shinobi I need surrounding me."

That… that sounds too solid a plan to be a decoy. She wants all of Konoha to know she's making a power play. Just like her mother, she wasn't one for subtlety either.

"That means that any that join me will part of the Namiki clan. You may keep your family name if you desire, and it will be my top priority to teach you everything I can so the Namiki clan will earn the respect of Konoha. And, failing that, instil enough fear that they do not try the shit they've been trying." All eyes light up, liking the brutal honesty Aya offers. Or well, most eyes. Sakura-san looks dour. Ito-san and Honda-san look like there's a lemon in their mouth, no matter how they try to hide it. Kakashi-san is just reading his book, seemingly not paying attention—but that's par for the course.

"But there's a price…" Aya trails off, tensing. "I'm into girls. So I cannot have any that would disrespect that. Nor any that would disrespect me for being a girl."

Michiko and Aomaru shrug, seeing nothing wrong with either notion—I agree.

"So you need to think long and hard. Weigh your options carefully. Because if you say you want in, I'll take you. But if I cannot trust you, you'll ever only be a tool to be used when needed."

"No need. I'm in," Michiko doesn't hesitate.

"Nn! I'm with you, milady," Reika's right behind her. Sakiko's snoring, so she won't have much to say, but given she's comfortable enough to fall asleep in Aya's arms, I think her vote is obvious.

"If I get to pick the guy I bed, I'm fine with it," the brunette chimes in.

"That goes without saying," Aya assures her. That pretty much opens a floodgate. The former rebels all offer their loyalty to her, as do the bandits. Not that any of them are making any sense to me—she openly admits she doesn't trust most of them, and she openly admits she needs to trust them to…

It isn't about that. Is it. They see her honesty, they see her promise to feed and clothe and shelter and train them. For people with little hope for the future, that must be tempting enough.

Namiki Aya. Just what are you capable of?

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 ** _End Chapter 17_**

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 ** _A/N: Alright. That's what I have for now. But given life's gotten pretty busy, I would appreciate it if you guys take a moment to leave a review and tell me what you think. Do you like it, hate it, what? Because I've only had Seto and like two reviewers telling me much of anything.  
_**


	18. A sense of purpose

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 18 – A sense of purpose**_

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Peering over the maps I've been offered, ignoring the incredulous stares, coming up with a plan I don't hate. I've spent a day and a half in a perpetual cycle of those three things.

Michiko and Zeitou have been going out with Hitomi, studying the daimyo's palace and coming back with ever-increasingly detailed reports. By now I've learned the names of the guards, their shifts and habits, rightie or leftie, even the style of their verbal and written reports to their superiors.

I have the intel I need, but something is missing. A big something:

Defence.

There are no shinobi present. At all. Only civilians trained to be guards. That makes no sense.

I've located the daimyo's bedroom, his harem's quarters, his court of nobles'—each individually, mind you. I've located the servants' quarters, the slave pits, their rotations and duties. I've found the treasury—curiously filled with Ryou notes stacked up to the fucking ceiling, gems and precious stones, and jewels that would make a jeweller weep. I've found the armoury, filled with enough to arm the entire island nation. I've found the food stores, enough to feed the citizenry for the winter and more.

I've even located where I suspect Gatou is. Including his regiment of thugs he calls bodyguards.

And yet, no shinobi. Is the daimyo a complete ass?

If this is as I suspect, I can walk into his palace right now and take them out solo. But that creates a new problem—lack of government means people like Gatou will rise in his place. Unless… hmm. Daimyos are always connected to other daimyos. So there's a chance this one will try to contact his people outside of Wave, and that means there's a trail. That means there's a chance I'll figure out who's backing him, and that means I can expose him.

I'll of course have to report this to Hokage-dono, who'll need to report this to the Fire Daimyo, but this way we'll know who we risk a tiff with.

"Michiko. Get Zeitou and Hitomi. We're going scouting."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Tall, imposing walls. Eight impressive buildings, with one grandiose palace in the centre of attention. Guards monitoring every millimetre of the grounds. Dogs on patrol. This is what I'd expect from a palace housing a daimyo, even for this small a country.

I sniff. Nothing but civilians. Wild, untamed chakra in all of them, underdeveloped and untrained. This is it, Aya. This is the moment you start the most fucked up test of your life. How sad is it that I can predict, down to the man, how they will react.

Oh well. This is the only way you'll know for sure. And with the dominoes already falling? Well, no helping it now—chain reactions are funny like that.

I dash up the wall, knowing they are hot on my heels. When on the top, I get quite a view of the courtyard, the layout of the buildings far better defined now. I see the dogs kept on thick rope leashes, their handlers holding them good and tight so they don't run off.

I sniff again. Half wolves. Those idiots have no fucking brains.

Now isn't the time to worry about that. We have company.

"HALT! Move and you're dead!" I mould the chakra I need, casting a sleep genjutsu on the guards. They slump down to the ground, already snoring.

"We're about to break so many laws," I whine, shaking my head. How many death sentences would the give me for breaking into a daimyo's palace? "If you back out, I wouldn't blame you."

"I'm with you, Aya-sama," Michiko iterates. I nod, having suspected as much. Well, pups. Time for words has come to an end. This is the 'show' portion of show and tell.

I dash to my right, continuously moulding the chakra sequence for the guards' naptime. Every time a guard sees me, my chakra flares, and they slump. I don't even break stride as I keep knocking them out as I go.

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* * *

"YOU'RE DE…" You'd think after dealing with so many guards, that at this point I'd be immune to the idle threats. Really, I'm just as annoyed now as when I started. And given I've just entered the royal court? Given the court is in session? Given I'm watching grown men hiding behind their women, screaming shit about not hurting them, and other such bullshit?

 _Sigh_. I've encountered a **lot** of assholes.

I turn to the midget with dark glasses that I recognize from the scores of portraits he had covering his many, many safes in those compounds.

"Gatou of Gatou Corporation, I presume," I drone. The silver-haired and dark-haired shits with him charge at me, their hands on their sword grips and ready to attack. I cast Icy Heatstroke on them—knowing they're the scum of the earth, I don't care if they die here.

I stand idly by and watch the pair of them start shivering, turn red as lobsters, before finally puking up their guts as their brains are fried from their own body heat.

"Allow me to introduce myself," I drone just as the shuddering of the now cooling bodies starts to die down. "I am Namiki Aya. I am here representing the people of Wave."

I sniff, smelling a mixture of cortisol, urine… and faeces—and not just from the corpses either. I smile.

"Gatou. You are guilty of a host of crimes. Including, but not limited to: sedition, extortion, enslavement, drug trafficking, torture, murder, assault and battery, racketeering, blackmail, and money laundering. You will stand trial for your crimes and all you possess with be stripped of you. Do you understand?"

"Hey, listen, Namiki-kun. This isn't the only route," he tries, motioning for me to calm down. He's sweating bullets, and he swallows almost painfully. He understands there is nothing stopping me from either killing him or bringing him in so he can pay for his crimes legally—but I think it's more his being broke that worries him. "I'm a very wealthy man. I can get you anything you want. Money, power, land, women. You name it."

I cast the sleep genjutsu on him, knocking him out. I unseal my prisoners' scroll and seal him away for later, rolling it up and standing it in front of me like a weapon.

"Moving on. The royal courts. You have clearly been working with an international criminal in subjugating and enslaving the people of this land. How _noble_." They start coming up with accusations and counteraccusations, already casting the blame on Gatou, on every other noble present, on the daimyo himself, on the concubines that told them it was a good idea, one even speaks of the drugs Gatou forced him to smoke.

"You can't do this! I am daimyo! I am Mikado! To pass judgment on the son of the gods is inconceivable! The very heavens will smite you for your crimes this day!" the crybaby daimyo bellows, clearly throwing a tantrum.

"Then summon your gods. Call on your heavens to smite me," I challenge. He starts sweating, knitting his brow to come up with something else. After all, his guards are ineffective, his courts have turned on him, and his 'ally' in Gatou is in just as much trouble. He's up shit creek without a paddle, and he knows it.

I do a brief headcount—one daimyo, six noblemen, eight women—the daimyo's harem isn't here, of course. At least one noble claims a woman is every bit as guilty. Being a girl myself, I am not inclined to believe women are innocent by definition. I can be an absolute bitch when I'm ready.

I start sealing the noblemen alongside Gatou. I seal this scroll away, unsealing the next where I seal the women as well. Sure they scream and beg and plead and pray to their impotent gods, but all in all, they're soon going to be someone else's problem.

That leaves only the daimyo himself. This supposed Mikado. This supposed son of the gods. I walk up to him, finding a phone by his side—brought to my attention because he grabs it and starts frantically dialling a number. Predictable.

"If you're ordering food, I want a hot fudge sundae," I drone, unimpressed.

"Y-yes, is uncle Tetsuhiko available? Tell him it's an emergency!" Mitsuzaka Tetsuhiko? The Fire Daimyo? Oh, this just got good.

I wait patiently. Going on five minutes. Nothing yet. Then I hear a voice on the other line.

"Jurou? Whatever is the matter, my boy?"

"Uncle, I have some… _people_ here. They have demands for my ransom," he claims. I laugh, good, long, and hard.

"Wow. I tell you you're to pay for your crimes, and you play this off like I'm taking you hostage," I belt out, unsealing the scroll with the royal court and seal his bullshitting ass away.

"Hello? HELLO!" It's rude to have a daimyo on hold.

I pick up the receiver, placing it to my ear. "Kunoichi of Konoha. Shinobi registration 008819. Genin Namiki Aya. Let me give you the facts. One, your nephew has not been kidnapped, nor will there be talks of ransom. Two, he is a criminal who knowingly and willing cooperated with Gatou of Gatou corporation in crippling the economy of this island nation, while starving and enslaving its people. Three, yes, I have proof of my claims."

"I see," the man murmurs. I can almost imagine him stroking his beard as he stands there, pondering how to proceed. "I should like to see this evidence with my own eyes. Bring him to me, Namiki-san. And should you prove your case, I shall reward you handsomely for seeing justice prevail."

"I have things to handle here. You may expect me in two weeks, give or take."

"Now, Namiki-san. With claims as egregious as these, would you not agree this takes precedence?"

"No. Because his life is assured. The lives of the shinobi the bridge builder hired are not. I will see you in fourteen days."

"The bridge builder? You mean Tazuna-kun? Ah, yes. I've heard of this project. Very well, Namiki-san. I will see you in fourteen days. Only, I expect to see you in Konoha. I will be there in person, I assure you. And do bring Tazuna-kun with you as well. I will need to hear the whole story, after all."

"So in addition to the proof I spoke of, you want: the pompous nephew with harem, the court of nobles with their courtesans, Gatou himself, Hatake Kakashi who was hired along with his team, and the bridge builder. Correct?"

"Hmm?" he noises, sounding surprised. "You can bring all of them? I expected there to be casualties."

"Only grunts, and none of the palace guards are included in that statement. Everyone else is alive and well." He laughs, obviously enjoying this little chat. "I'm sure you're a busy man. If there is nothing else?"

"Actually, yes. My granddaughter, Yasu. I would entrust you personally with her protection until she is returned to me."

"That's going to be a problem," I drone.

"Is that so?" he doesn't sound pleased. In fact, he sounds on the verge of becoming upset. I'd best word this carefully.

"Yes. My intelligence shows no one by that name residing in this palace at present. The only Yasu I know of was a slave in a bandit camp. Blue-green hair, grey eyes, soft features. Tall. Soft-spoken but unyielding. No scars or identifying marks to speak of. Speaks with an understated eastern Land of Fire accent. Cultured, but not haughty. Has a habit of closing her eyes when she chews."

"That… sounds like her. Bring her along as well."

"If that **is** her, there will be a different problem," I point out, unwilling to bend on this.

"What do you mean?" He curious this time, but not remotely upset.

"Her current allegiance is to me. Should you force her hand, I will step in."

"Is that really necessary, Namiki-san?" Hmm? Is that a cautious peacekeeping stance?

"Only if you force her hand," I iterate. "Should she decide on her own that she wishes to go with you, I will have nothing to say. Should she decide to remain with my pack, then that is the reality even you will abide with."

"I don't understand, Namiki-san. Why should she desire otherwise?" Again confusion seeps into his voice. He doesn't seem to doubt me, nor does he seem to question my loyalties. Interesting. He's had dealings with Namikis in the past.

"Mitsuzaka-san. She was a sex slave."

…

Silence.

Unending silence.

"You heard me. She reeked of common bandits. And from the tale she tells, it's 'her family' that sold her to them. I assume this would indict your nephew. You may ask her when you meet, but I will end the meeting should she become unwilling to speak further on this matter. Is that clear?"

"I… understand your stance, Namiki-san. Yes… yes, that is agreeable. Please. Guard her as any Namiki guards their pack." Yes. Loads of dealings with Namikis. I'll have to go through the family archives—dealings with daimyos tend to be recorded.

"That goes without saying. Until we meet." I hang up. The Fire Lord's granddaughter, huh. Interesting.

"Alright, people. Let's move. We have Gatou's things to sort through." I'd better seal everything else separately. If Mitsuzaka demands them, I need to be certain what is whose. Not to mention needing to identify the royal accountant(s), sealing every member of the harem, checking if any of the children I encountered are in fact related to this bum daimyo, and that other thing that needs handling… it's going to be a long day, isn't it.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"You're off your rocker!" comes the predictable accusation. Of course, the moment I get back to the safehouse, I call for a meeting to update the troops. They know I have the Fire Daimyo's nephew sealed away, and I have a meeting with the man himself in Konoha.

The time to prove your loyalty is now. So come on, pups. Show me the truth.

"Seriously, Namiki-sama. This is more than even you can handle!" Questioning motives and even sanity isn't disloyal, it's healthy. So no foul yet.

"Be that as it may. The die is cast," I drawl. "So what are you going to do? The Land of Wave will need capable shinobi to defend it in the future. And the Mist Rebellion is still in desperate need."

I look around, seeing the doubts plaguing them. Good. Question everything, pups. Question everyone. No one deserves blind trust. Not even me.

Yasu stands in a dark corner, her eyes downcast and her body language downtrodden. She's haunted by her past—she needs a distraction, and some quiet time. "Yasu? Isn't it time for Reika's and Sakiko's lessons?" She nods, but doesn't look at me. She motions for the girls to follow her upstairs, walking ahead as if in a daze. I look to Michiko—she nods, trailing behind the trio without a word.

"What are you playing at, Namiki?!" the brunette that was praising me just this morning sneers with unbridled contempt. Questioning is healthy. Accusing and/or raging at me for things you do not understand is not. Strike one.

"People here are showing me they question their choice to follow me. I am reminding you that there are other options. After all. The Fire Daimyo will no doubt appoint a new daimyo of Wave, should the current daimyo be his nephew. He requested Tazuna be brought to this meeting. And I am willing to bet Tazuna will either be appointed daimyo, or he at least the daimyo's advisor, for his role in freeing the Land of Wave. That means he will be in a position to hire guards. That gives you an easy in. Show him your loyalty, and he may well hire you on. Make sense?"

"Is this **another** test?!" the brunette demands. Strike two. And a repeat offense as well.

"You would rather I lie to you?" I ask, curious. She sputters, before an aggravated shriek jumps up from her throat.

"This is fucking impossible! You talk to her!" she bellows, storming out. That would be strike three.

"Look, Namiki-sama… you've been good to us." I'm hearing a 'but' Katara. "But this… this is a daimyo we're talking about. The **Fire** Daimyo. Is this really a game you wanna play?" Fair question.

"I'm not playing a game, Katara. When there is talk of a corrupt daimyo, that means there're noble relatives to appease. This time it involves the Fire Daimyo. What more do you want me to say?"

Everyone starts looking around, clearly nervous but either unable or unwilling to articulate his or her objections.

"I really don't understand the problem. Is this about not including you in the infiltration?" I ask, giving them a leg up. Speak up, people. I need to know where you stand.

" **Not** including me?! What the fuck! You attacked a fucking DAIMYO! A son of the heavens! A descendant of the gods!" Superstitious beliefs aren't a strike, but that incredulousness at the beginning is damned close, Yamatsu.

"What would you have me do? Sit and wait for him to leave?" I drone, understanding his stance but unwilling to indulge it all the same. "The people of Wave **are** **starving** , **are** being sold as **slaves**. You've seen this with your own eyes. And that man not only did nothing to stop it, but I walked in on a meeting with him and Gatou. The same Gatou that is crippling the economy. What do you think he was there for? To talk him out of it?"

"You know what? Fuck this! I'm going to the bridge!" With no strikes, you're still out, Takorou.

"I'm way ahead of you, buddy." And Yamatsu quickly follows.

Three out. Any other deserters? "Aren't you going to stop them?" Zeitou asks.

"No. Anyone that wants out is free to leave. No strings. No repercussions. I won't even ask for the blades back." A few of them start getting fidgety. Hmm. Let's try ease that other fear then. "And most of the food is going to Wave. So there will no doubt be more than enough here to go around."

Six more drop out, all from Hitomi's team the other day. The other three share a look and are quick to follow.

"I wonder if Tsunami will need handmaidens?" I muse, tapping my chin in thought. The murmuring starts up behind me—the ladies are whispering about 'helping Tsunami with lunch'. And just like that, six of them are out of the running as well.

Dropping like flies, these supposed loyals.

Two of the genjutsu user boys stare at the ladies' asses as they retreat and suddenly they have something to do in the kitchen. Uh huh.

"Ladies, is there anything we can help you with? Those bags of rice look heavy." Being helpful is a good thing. But in this case, their actions show where their loyalties truly lie. Out, the both of them.

"You know what? Fuck this! And fuck your faggot ass, Yuki!" another boy bellows, slamming the door on his way out. That's not just out, that's bordering on fucking him up later.

"You know what? I see a goshdarn pattern here!" the other brunette pipes up. 'Goshdarn'? You're a Mist Rebel, not someone's grandmother. "How come you aren't testing the Uzumakis? Or the Iis. Or Yuki?"

Maybe they are being tested and aren't tempted. "Again with the testing? There. **IS**. No. Test. If you want in, you're welcome to stay. If you want out, you're welcome to leave. Simple."

"Look, Namiki. I respect you, I really do. But being a lesbian _and_ attacking a daimyo? That's too much." And we've lost our second brunette. She takes the black-haired girl with her—who suddenly smells aroused? Heh. You look down on me for being into girls, then drag off a girl who's into you. Genius-level stupidity.

"H-hey, Momoko! Come on, don't go!" Katara begs, but the raven-haired girl doesn't even break stride. "Fuck, Namiki. You dropped the ball. And hard. We had something going here, you know?" He looks betrayed, like I'm the one letting people down.

He stands there, shaking his head in disappointment before turning and leaving as well.

More and more trickle out. Until at last we're left with Zeitou, Yuki, Minori, Haruki, and two of the ladies I'd saved from that bandit camp. I'll deal with the chuunins and the bandits later, but they'll not doubt hear through the grapevine what happened.

Team Seven don't count. Nor do any of the Konoha contingent.

"What about you two?" I ask the ladies. "I won't hold it against you, you know."

"You won't," the redhead agrees. "I will. I owe you my life, Namiki-sama." I nod, turning to the next one, a blonde.

"I-I a-agree with Kana," she mutters, unable to meet my gaze.

"Alright. What are your names?"

"I'm Kana. This is Satoko," the redhead introduces the pair of them. "Please forgive her, she's really shy."

"She's done nothing wrong. Have you two learned to read and write?" I ask, frowning at the nervous tension in them.

"We have, milady," Kana assures me, bowing to me.

"I am not against you questioning things. If you have something to say, I welcome it," I assure them, wondering at Satoko's spike in nervousness and slight fear.

"It… isn't my place, milady," Kana answers hesitantly.

"It's alright. I promise you I won't get upset. No matter what it is," I soothe. Kana knits her brow, likely weighing her options.

"Well, it's… Why test everyone as you have? Surely you should understand attacking a daimyo is… _unbecoming_. Are they really at fault for choosing another path?" Kana is articulate. Cultured as well. Her accent is a little hard for me to place, but it's eastern Elemental Nations without a doubt. Hmm, interesting.

"I fault no one for questioning me. Questioning is healthy and encouraged," I point out. I shake my head, annoyed that so many left so easily. "However, what they did here was deeper than that. They turned their back at the first sight of trouble."

"Hnn. Exactly." Uchiha _can_ speak! Fuck. I thought he was a mute.

"Now come. It's time for us to have a meeting. Uzumakis, Yuki. You, too. This involves all of us."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **Knock-knock.**

"Come in, Aya-sama," Yasu invites me. I slide the door open, finding Reika and Sakiko sitting beside her, once again taking turns reading. "Alright, girls. We'll continue reading in a bit. Aya-sama seems to have something important to discuss."

I motion the others in, signalling for Htiomi, Zeitou, Michiko, Kana, and Satoko to sit beside Yasu and the girls. I motion for Naruto, the Uzumakis, and Yuki to sit opposite us.

When everyone's comfortable, I cast a privacy jutsu, feeling a familiar tingling rippling over my skin. "Alright. This is a private meeting. So everything that is said here is not to be repeated. Is that understood?" I say, mostly for Reika and Sakiko's sakes.

Everyone assures me that they understand.

"Naruto. I think now's the time for you to explain your _situation_. They deserve to know," I murmur the last part, giving him a meaningful look. He nods.

"Look, guys. People in Konoha treat me like crap." He goes on to explain about the nine-tails, about what little he knows about it, and he even shows them his seal. The entire time, everyone is making listening noises, thoughtful frowns. At one point I honestly think Michiko and Zeitou about to explode—this is striking an all too familiar chord with them.

"People are stupid," Sakiko grouses, crossing her arms and pouting. I snort, agreeing completely.

"You said it. That's like not knowing the difference between a scroll and a kunai," Minori adds. Haruki shrugs, shaking his head in dismay—his eyes are filled with annoyance, though. I'm betting he's annoyed with people, too.

"Naruto-nii…" Reika gets out, tears in her eyes. She starts bawling, running to him and throwing herself into his arms. "I'm so sorry… that people treated you like that."

"So that's why…" Kana muses, tears in her eyes. "That's why you had to protect him." I nod, not bothering to deny it. She and Satoko share a look, going together and hugging him—poor Reika gets squished in the middle of it all.

"And I thought I had it rough," Yuki complains, placing his hand on Naruto's upper arm to show his support. How he found room between three females hugging the living daylights out him is beyond me. "Hey, 'Ruto. You're alright in my book. So you let us know if anyone bothers you, alright?"

"Aya-sama?" Michiko mumbles, her hands balled painfully tight in her lap. "If anyone harms him again. I am coming with you."

"Agreed," Zeitou fumes. Yes, I chose this group well. No doubt in my mind.

Yasu, in the meantime, is so busy with her own demons, that she doesn't seem to have heard about Naruto's.

"Yasu?" She looks at me, her eyes hollow. "I know he's your grandfather."

"N-nn," she noises, but I can't tell if she even heard me.

"He wants to meet with you. He wants you to come to Ryuuhou with him."

"A-Aya-s-sama… I… I… please, I can't go back… not…" I go to her, wrapping my arms around her—Saki's quick to join in. Yasu sighs, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I won't go."

"You don't want to go to Ryuuhou?" I press, needing to understand her stance.

"I can't go back… not to that life… please… I… I've been through enough." She keeps shaking her head, unwilling to go there, even mentally.

"If you don't want to go, don't go," I assure her I'm on her side. "I told him as much when we spoke. And he has specific instructions not to press the matter."

She starts shuddering, overwhelmed with the emotions coursing through her. Yet she doesn't make a sound as she cries. Michiko sidles over, hugging Yasu from behind. Zeitou places a hand on her shoulder. Soon everyone—even the Uzumakis—engulf her in a group hug.

"If you want to stay with us, Yasu. Stay with us. We'll take care of you, I promise," I murmur, praying she can hear me through the fog of despair wrapped around her.

I wait until she's calmed down, before moving onto the next subject. I pull back from her, smiling warmly.

"Do you want to see him?" I ask. She already starts shaking her head, no. "I promise we'll be there with you if you want. And we won't let him take you anywhere without your consent."

"Aya… I…"

"It's entirely your decision. Seeing him or not. Going to Ryuuhou or staying with us. These are choices you are expected to make for yourself," I tell her unambiguously. "All we need to know is what decision you've made. We'll respect it, and we will do all we can to keep anyone from denying you what your heart desires."

"P-please… please, Aya… let me stay with you. Don't… don't let them take me," she begs, tears streaming down her face once again.

"Namiki Yasu," I chide playfully, wiping away her tears. "You're one of us. Why would we let anyone take you away?" If she was emotional before, she's a shipwreck now. She buries her face in my chest, crying audibly and… well, just bawls her eyes out.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Dinnertime rolls around. Everyone seems nervous, tense—I dare say upset with the situation. I'm mostly amused. Yasu, Kana, and Satoko had spent the afternoon embroidering the kanji for 'wolf' into the Namiki family's jackets and obi belts—which the Uzumakis got jealous of, so they pestered them until they embroidered the Uzumaki swirl into Minori's and Haruki's jackets as well.

So everyone's pissed because they figured out they failed the loyalty test.

"A-ah, Namiki-sama?" Three of them come to me. Two of the 'bandits' and the black-haired girl that got dragged away. She's the spokeswoman of the group. "I… well, that is, we want to come with you."

"Yeah, boss. We heard everyone's stayin', but that ain't our style," the tall one complains. His long, black hair sways as he waves the others off nonchalantly. "If we'd been there, Atsu and I would'a smacked those traitors."

"Yeah. I mean, come on. You done right by Tsuji, Eimi, and me. We're with you, boss," the short, chubby one agrees with his friend.

"What my idiot brothers are trying to say," the girl pipes up, having caught her second wind, "is that we are hoping you'll consider taking us to Konoha with you."

"Tsuji, Atsu, and Eimi," I murmur, sniffing to memorize their scents. Yeah, siblings for sure. Earth-release users. And secondary is fire, just like the Namiki family. Interesting. "Let's get one thing clear. No one here betrayed me."

The crowd around the table is suddenly eerily quiet. Even the bridge builder looks confused.

"Tazuna-san. I know it's a bother, but I've asked a sizeable portion of my people to stay here in Wave to guard your people and help build up the town once again. I'm sure they were mumbling a different tale, but I have a crude way of asking some things." Blinks and confused looks abound, no one seems to make sense of me. No one but the second brunette that stormed out—she looks like she wants to throw up from nerves. "If it isn't too much trouble putting them up here, I'll reimburse you for shelter and food to cover for at least the next six months. It isn't nearly enough, I'm sure. But would you do me this courtesy?"

"Hmm?" he noises, obviously thinking about that.

"The reason for this is simple. The ladies are to help Tsunami prepare food for the townsfolk until you're able to build up stable trade again and everyone is back to working to earn their own way. And the boys can patrol the town to keep everyone safe. This allows for your people to have three square meals a day, and feel safe in the streets during the day and in their homes at night. Isn't this something we can all agree is desirable? Let alone after everything you've been through these past years."

By the end of my talk, every one of the bandits and the ex-rebels feel sick to their stomachs. Even the ladies that were so quick to cast me off look queasy, and guiltier than a puppy that peed where she knows she shouldn't.

"Naturally, I'll be leaving the food with you, so that shouldn't be a problem, right? Helping those in need?"

"When you put it that way, Namiki, it'd be foolish to say no!" he agrees with me wholeheartedly, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. He's quick to sober up, though, bowing low to me. "We're in your debt."

"Not at all. You're the one doing me a favour. And you didn't even mind that I decided before discussing it with you," I protest, smiling at the increasingly depressed crowd that was so eager to both accept and reject me.

"And hey, while we're on the subject? I found a stack of deeds in Gatou's office," I announce, nodding to Zeitou and Michiko. He brings a healthy pile to Tazuna, setting on the table for him. She brings a leather satchel and offers it to Ito. "That's all we could find from Wave. But we don't know what belongs to whom, since it all says the official owner is 'Gatou Corp.' It would mean the world to us that the rightful owners see them returned."

"Are you kiddin'? O' course they'll get their deeds back!" Tazuna belts out, grinning from ear to ear. "I'll spread the word tomorrow at the bridge. You can count on that!"

"Ah, one last thing. The Wave daimyo is to stand trial for his crimes against your people in fourteen days. The Fire Daimyo himself will hear the case, and he's requested that you bear witness on behalf of the citizens."

"You're kiddin'!" Tazuna belts out, shocked, but grinning like the cat that got the cream. "Where?"

"In Konoha. Hokage-dono will no doubt have more information for us when we get there," I explain. "The bridge should be done by then, right?"

"You kiddin'? With all the extra manpower and people begging to work for me? We should have the bridge done in two days!" He holds up his hand making the customary 'V' to show he knows the people of Wave have finally won—Victory is finally theirs.

And other than one stubborn Momochi and his Yuki sidekick, he's right.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"How's the patient?" Hitomi asks, entering the room without knocking. Not surprisingly Ito and Honda enter with her.

"If you shut up for a minute I can check," I grumble, casting the Mystic Palm jutsu and checking him. I'm nowhere close to efficient, but Hatake refused for doctor dickhead to check him—naturally, Hitomi suggested I do it. So here we are. Me with my hand glowing green and WAY too much information flooding my skull, and Hatake laying on his futon as I start scanning at his feet and make my way up.

"We're taking your suggestion, by the way," Ito announces, but I'm kind busy. You know, examining muscles, tendons, bones, veins, arteries, a whole bunch of tiny as fuck details that need FOCUS to check?! "We're sending the genins of Team Seven with Asami to the palace to seal the food. That way we can tell Tazuna that we raided another bandit camp and they'll never know."

And saying that out loud in the middle of the man's house with nothing but curious ears is doing… what exactly?

"You people can shut up any time now," I remind them that I'm checking a fucking patient. I finally make it to his thighs. "Dude. When's the last time you got laid?"

Of course, I have no idea how to check if he has or hasn't had sex recently—I know nothing about operating a penis—but hearing his annoyed groan and his colleagues chuckling? Worth it.

"Hey, Aya? You mind casting a privacy jutsu?" Hatake asks. I raise an eyebrow. I'm already on my fucking knees, tending to your pathetic ass that can't not get fucked up on a mission, and you still have shit to ask me?

"If you people would shut up and let me examine you, then I would be happy to deny your request. Until then, quiet."

A minute of blissful silence follows. Just enough time to go over all the vitals, limbs, extremities, and his head. "That eye is going to kill you one of these days," I point out, sensing how severely it drains him even when not actively in use.

"Noted," he drones. "So what do you think, doc? Fight-worthy?"

"You're an ass if you think I'm going to tell you yes," I snipe, offering him an arm up. He grabs me and I help stabilize him once he's standing, making sure to give him his crutch so he'll be okay on his own. "No. You'd need at least another two days of rest. But that's likely to be true for Momochi as well. That means he'll be desperate. He'll fight dirty. And you can count on him wanting nothing more than to even the score. You're going to have to sit this one out, Hatake."

"That's reasonable," Ito murmurs. "Now, about that privacy jutsu?"

"Who says I can even cast one?" I ask, my eyebrow raised.

"I was in the room with you," Hatake points out, offering me a deadpan glare.

"Ah, yes. Because a private conversation requiring a fucking privacy jutsu always needs a Hatake's approval months in advance," I drone, obviously being sarcastic. "Now what the hell do you people need with me?"

Hatake's only response is a raised eyebrow. He's waiting on the jutsu. "Four jounins, and the only one that knows the jutsu is a fucking genin. Absolutely priceless," I grouse, doing the fucking jutsu. The tingling sensation rips through me instantly, handseals not included. "Now what the hell is this about? And if one of you tries some shit, I'm killing you in your sleep."

"We need to know your angle," Hatake begins.

"Why?" I snap. Ito and Honda shift their weight nervously. They fucking tricked me into examining Hatake, just to get me alone. Assholes.

"Because we have no idea what to report and what not to report," Hatake explains like it's obvious. "The fact is, the things you said the other night confuses them. That's worrying, given the skills you've been showing. And frankly, they're starting to get nervous about getting on your bad side."

"The entire point of that tirade was to confuse you. No one's going to remember the entire conversation, and even if you can quote it word for word, there isn't anyone alive that thinks it's worth a play by play with so much going on around it. That means all reports, if there even are any, will be sketchy and likely to contradict each other. That means if someone gets curious, they will have to ask for a verbal report, because asking for a written report on something a genin said one night between cleaning out bandit compounds and breaking into the daimyo's palace is going to stick out like a sore thumb. That means they are interested in what I said and are in need of confirmation. That means it will be traceable. So write whatever the hell you feel like writing about it."

"So that's why you wanted Sasuke and Sakura to hear it," Hatake murmurs, finally connecting the dots. "You know Sakura will tell her parents, and this will reveal any connections they have. And Sasuke… his connections to the Shinobi council would be far more evident when you find out who's asking what questions."

"Thank you for that _thrilling_ and _emotive_ analysis," I deadpan. "So what do you need me for?"

"You have plans in Konoha. I want in," Hatake all but demands. "We split costs down the middle, we share profits just the same."

"Cute," I snipe. "But that requires telling you my actual plans. And remember, the reports aren't even likely to agree on that. So what are the odds of me talking to you three about it?"

"Aya, look. We face serious backlash for this. Don't we deserve some kind of reward?" he changes tack.

"Oh, right. A reward for doing your fucking job," I drone, pretending to search the room for something. "Where is that last fuck I had left to give? It was around here somewhere."

"Be serious, will you," Hatake demands.

"Get to a point I give a shit about," I challenge. He sighs, shaking his head. "Look. I've suffered through this shit for years. I'm no longer in the mood. Now either you get to the point, or you find out with the rest of Konoha just what it is that I'm planning."

"You see, it's statements like _that_ that worry me," Honda complains. "What does that even mean, Namiki?"

"It means whatever you think it means," I drone, uncaring of his opinion.

"Look. Namiki. I respect you. And I respect what you've done here. Hell, I've worked with both your parents enough to know there's nothing to worry about. But the fact is, if I don't report you being able to recruit dozens of rogues? It's my ass in the frying pan. Let alone you being able to transport them stealthily. I mean, fuck. You could have an army in your gloves. That's a serious security breach if you choose not to declare who you're bringing into Konoha."

"That's nice. So, uh… what has Konoha done for me, exactly?" I press, knowing I'm only make this worse for him.

"Alright. Let's all calm down," Ito suggests, her hand on Honda's shoulder. "Namiki, just give it to me straight. Are you a danger to Konoha, its council, Hokage-sama, or the public?"

"You're asking an admitted lesbian to give it to you straight?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"You see! That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Honda bellows. So tense. Obviously he needs to get laid.

"Aya?" Hitomi soothes, her hand on my shoulder. "If you were planning something, you'd tell me, right?"

"I'm not ruining your birthday surprise. Forget it," I snipe. "Now what the fuck is you people's problem? Don't I get enough shit in Konoha for breathing? I need to get this on missions, too?"

"The problem, Aya, is that they can't pin you down. They don't understand how your mind works, and that bothers people that have done nothing but profile everyone around them," Hatake explains. "I'm mostly here to stack the odds in your favour, because let's face it, you'd have broken something on those two by now if I wasn't."

"Point," I concede, shrugging. "So what's so big about understanding me? I'm not that complicated."

"I tried telling them that," he explains, heaving a sigh. "They're too busy studying your behaviour, so they miss what's underneath the underneath."

I shake my head, annoyed with the morons. "So what do you need me for?"

"Just like Ito asked. They want to know if you're a danger to Konoha. Now, **I know** you're only a danger to people who threaten or endanger your pack. This isn't about me knowing. This is about those two idiots being able to report that you are a non-issue," he rattles off too quick for me to mouth off again.

"Alright. _Fine_. I, Namiki Aya, am not interested in hurting anyone—whether physically, emotionally, psychologically, socially, or politically—that isn't interested in hurting my pack. Satisfied?" Jeez, where the fuck is the official waver?

Ito and Honda breathe easier. Seriously?

"So anyway. Hitomi. Yes, I would tell you what I'm planning. Other than surprise birthday stuff. Sorry. You'll have to follow the rose petals." Hitomi flushes, teasing a naughty giggle from Hatake. "Are we done here?" Honda grumbles, looking away from me. Asshole.

I cancel the stupid jutsu, jumping onto Hitomi's back. "Piggyback," I demand.

"Alright," she agrees, her hands wrapping around her and holding me by bum. She tries playing it off as 'just getting you comfortable', hoisting me up further so I can snake my arms around her shoulders… but that little squeeze says more than the leg up.

 _There_ moistens, and my scent becomes obviously aroused. I don't doubt at least Hatake will notice, but I wish Hitomi would as well. Maybe I'll teach her that enhanced sense of smell jutsu—it would simply things, wouldn't it? I think it would.

For now, I trail my nose against her neck, letting her know I'm not against her touching me like that again. And just in case, as she turns the corner and leaves everyone's sight, I pull down my mask and kiss her neck.

I smile, smelling her arousal as well—both from _there_ , and from her skin.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The next morning, it's back to the same old routine. I have all the genins training, I teach the genjutsu users another genjutsu, and I pester Hatake to teach the others another elemental jutsu—he owes me as much. Unfortunately, Hitomi and the _other two_ are at the bridge keeping an eye on things there.

We keep it up until around eight, when the first patrol needs to head out.

"Aya!" I turn to the house, wondering what has Michiko so worked up that she's shouting and running like there's a rat chasing her. "Zabuza attacked the team on the bridge! Hitomi-sama's injured!"

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 18_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Just one more chapter of Wave, and then we take a more political path. R &R darlings.  
_**


	19. Hitomi: Safe with you

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 19 – Hitomi: Safe with you**_

 _ **Hyuuga Hitomi point of view chapter**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

There are times, I admit, when I question my own sanity. Having spent these last weeks training Aya, when I should have been retraining myself after my injuries, leads up to this most recurrence.

So here I stand, on a mission that isn't mine to execute, on a bridge that isn't mine to guard, with my dominant hand severely disadvantaged and ever at risk of a re-break. And opposite me is Momochi Zabuza, hunched over from the weight of his own weapon and its tip dragging against the concrete before him, with the grip of a shorter blade peeking out from his right hip.

His eyes study our group. I see him calculating his odds of survival, and the subtle frown tells me he knows he'll need a miracle to walk away from this. That Haku-san is missing tells me there's going to be some seriously underhanded tactics being used.

"We've already captured Gatou," Ito-san begins, hoping to avoid a fight altogether. She and Honda-san stand between Tazuna-san and Zabuza-san, while I stand behind Tazuna-san, in case Haku-san's orders are to sneak up from the rear. "Even _if_ you kill Tazuna-san, you won't get paid."

I activate my Byakugan, studying the bodies strewn about. They're all alive—their heartbeats are steady and strong—but they've been knocked out. There are no injuries to them I can identify, so my guess is that they passed out from shock or fear.

Scouting around, I spot Haku-san behind Zabuza-san, keeping to the shadows. Aomaru-kun excels at ranged combat and ice styled jutsu—I'm willing to wager Haku-san will be the same.

"You expect me to buy that," Zabuza-san drones. His eyes bore into me, I assume to unnerve me. He thinks this is a ploy.

"Very well, then why not go check the shinobi hideout in the old clothing factory. We cleared it out. Or the six bandit lairs here. We cleared those out, too," Ito counters. "We also know for a fact that Gatou was in a meeting with the Wave daimyo when he was captured."

"All of which Hyuuga there could spy on without lifting a finger," Zabuza-san retorts, obviously not willing to listen to a word we say.

"Think, Momochi!" Ito belts out. "We have four jounins, two chuunins, and over thirty genins. Do you really think we couldn't pull this off in a matter of days?"

Instead of answering, he hefts his blade up onto his shoulder. Hmm, he carries it like Aya would. Only he's limited by the angle of the blade for cutting power and his is far heavier.

"Where's your midget, Hyuuga," he demands. Did his heart just skip a beat? He's worried about Aya using the same tactic as Haku-san. How interesting.

"She's around," I tease, grinning. There's a twinge in his lips—he's not happy with her missing. I'm willing to bet he knows Miwako-sensei's reputation, and he's betting on Aya becoming every bit the threat of her family's namesake. "She'd be willing to pay you what you're owed if you walk away peacefully."

He grins. Shit. He figures she'll have the money to pay triple if he ransoms one of us—or something equally stupid.

"If you—"

He rushes Ito, but Honda unsheathes his katanas and gets in the way. I unsheathe my katana as well, knowing this is going to go wrong sooner rather than later.

Ito jumps back and to one side, hands already blazing through handsigns. Shit, bad move. Zabuza's the better swordsman, he'll—

Before I even finish the thought I see the blade tilt downwards, and it cuts through steel and bone in one go. Zabuza jumps back, uninterested in finding out what Ito has planned, leaving Honda with two broken katanas and two stumps where his wrists should have been.

Crude, but effective. Honda is out of the fight and won't be able to use jutsus. In fact, without immediate medical attention, he'll bleed out. Shit. Ito'll be too distracted keeping Honda alive and out of the fray, that means it's on me—the exact scenario I've been dreading.

I ball my left hand behind my back, point down with my index finger, then raise two fingers; _heads up, I need you here in two minutes_. I'm grateful Michiko and I discussed this possibility in advance. She's to tell Kakashi and Asami, before telling Aya I've been injured. Hopefully they'll arrive before it actually comes to that.

Now, how to stay alive until backup arrives? He's injured, but talking him down still didn't work. He's the better swordsman, even messed up as he is. And he still has Haku in the shadows. If I go into battle mode, I'll need to narrow my field of vision to not bog myself down with too much information, which Haku might then fall outside of.

Wearing him down is the better option, but he knows that and took out a jounin weapons master in one attack for it. That blade of his is too heavy, even blocking could break my right forearm. That means I need to stall.

"Ito, focus on him," I order, turning my nose to Honda and hoping she understands the plan. "Zabuza. You're going about this wrong."

Instead of answering, he dashes for me. Shit, he knows. I narrow my range, keeping a keener eye on him—and just like I feared, Haku's outside of my field of vision. I see the blade coming in from my left—power stroke, he doesn't know my right arm is my weakness. I duck under the blade at the last second and dash for him to take him out.

Senbons fly at me. I figured. I jump forward and roll the last metre, coming in with a wide slash to take hi—

Three senbon, chakra infused. Aimed at my legs and right forearm. She knows.

Refusing to take the risk, I body flicker out of the fray and land on the wall putting Haku behind Zabuza. Fifteen seconds passed. One minute forty-five to survive.

A flash of red kanji in my vision. Logic, pissed. Huh… oh, right. She knows the kanji for Aya's name is 'logic'. Aya's been informed, she's pissed.

I smirk. "Oi. Do you like having working legs?" I tease, rather enjoying using Aya's name as a threat.

"Che," he snorts, coming at me for another attack. He's coming in for an over-the-head, mid-log slice. I wait for the last second and body flicker to my left. This keeps his focus on me and away from Ito and Honda.

"I'm not messing around, Zabuza. Aya's quite protective of me," I taunt, knowing he's listening. His left eyebrow twitches, his heart rate elevates slightly. Aya would most likely come from where his back currently points. That should keep him distracted, even if only a little. It might even get Haku's attention off me.

"Hiding behind a little girl. What a joke," he retorts. That just makes me smile brighter.

"A little girl that turned your supposed army against you in less than two days," I snipe, grinning at the tick mark on his brow. "If you're not careful, she'll steal Haku's heart as well."

He frowns. Ooh, that struck a nerve. So Haku is all that matters to him. He comes at me again. He'll want Aya's most likely approach to come from his side, not his flank. So let's not give him that.

Senbons are already flying at my position and my preferred withdrawal path. Haku is more of a thinker, a plotter. I wait for the last second, just before his blade should strike, before body flickering ten metres backwards and slightly to the right to avoid those extra senbons. It allows Zabuza to amble to his left and give him more of a view to keep an eye on his rear flank, but I don't die for it.

"So tell me, Zabuza. How long have you been dragging Haku all over the known world? How long have you been denying her a place to call home? How l—"

He dashes for me again. I was right, Haku's his heartstring. The thought of him harming her, even emotionally, upsets him. There's only another fifteen metres of bridge behind me, if I estimate correctly. I wait for the last second once again, before body flickering back five metres.

Senbons come flying in my direction, but with the expectation I would have body flickered the full ten. I grab the only one aimed for my current location. It feels cold, sticking to my skin in the worst way. I pelt it towards Zabuza, not surprised to see him lean his head out of the way and letting it fly past without issue.

"How long have you been denying that girl a chance to make friends?" I continue with the verbal assault. Only a minute left now. "Say what you want about me and my midget. But I've done all I can to socialise her in a hea—"

He comes flying at me again. I smile. Haku'll take that to mean I'm going to attack, more than likely. I duck under the horizontal slash again, and dash towards him. I see him reaching for his tanto, and I see the senbons flying at me. I grin.

Haku only has six senbons left. She's more focused on keeping Zabuza alive than a winning strategy.

I body flicker past Zabuza, too fast for him to nick me with either blade. And Haku comes back into my vision. I check her senbons, finding fifteen left—she's been using senbons crafted of ice. Interesting. But more interesting will be getting in close enough to spook Zabuza. I body flicker right behind her, she body flickers away instantly.

"Would you look at that?" I tease, feeling Zabuza's killing intent flood the area. "If I really wanted to, I cou—"

He body flickers to me. He's being less cautious with his chakra usage, less gentle on his body. I body flicker to the right, making sure to keep him well away from my comrades.

Thirty seconds.

"You know. Aomaru-kun is coming to Konoha with us. He's already been accepted into the Uzumaki clan," I say more for Haku's sake than Zabuza's. She'd no doubt know how close he is with Minori and Haruki. "If you two lower your arms, I could put in a good word with Naruto."

Zabuza stabs his big blade into the concrete, letting it stand on its own. He unsheathes his tanto. Crap. He thinks I'm trying to play Haku against him. He was fast with a hundred kilos of blade. He'll be a blur with a tanto.

I unsheathe one of Aya's wakizashis, before sheathing my katana and unsheathing the second wakizashi. "Think, Zabuza. I—"

He blitzes at me. Thinking isn't his strong suit, not when it comes to her. Luckily he wields the bald right-handed, so I block with my left. He throws a right-handed punch, but I'm not in the mood to figure out his plan.

I duck under the punch, slipping under his blade and running my right wakizashi against his clothes. It won't hurt him, but it'll get a clear message across; _I can hurt you whenever I want, but I'm choosing not to_.

Ten seconds. No sign of reinforcements.

I body flicker to where I suspect Haku is. She comes into my vision once again, and I lay the blunt spine of my blade on her shoulder as I pass her. She body flickers away once again. This places Zabuza with his back to the backup I can swear blindly is coming. And now he's even more on edge, his eyes zeroing in on me like I tried to harm all the treasures in his world.

H—

FUCK! I block his attack, unable to blink before he's on me.

 **SNAP!**

The pain distracts me long enough for the blade to bite deep into Aya's blades. Right forearm, both weak points broken. His fist blazes at my face. I reinforce my left arm, blocking—

 **SNAP!**

Shit. Left wrist, three phalanges in my palm, and both forearm bones break in one go. He's been holding back to go easy on his body.

I body flicker away from him, unwilling to risk another injury. He's hot on my heels, his blade blurring with each attack. I dodge, substitute, and avoid him like the plague. I can't block, I can't risk getting hit. He's too strong, even for me.

Hopefully that girl will see he's too strong for her, but…

 _The Namiki family sitting room. The paper screen doors are wide open, the snow is coming down in droves. It should be cold, but I feel a quilt wrapped around me. I look down, finding the five year old Aya sitting in my lap, sipping at her hot cacao. Miwako-sensei walks in, a smile in her brown-yellow eyes as she sits beside me._

 _"Aya trusts you, you know," sensei gushes, the twinkling in her eyes only increases. "Yoshino tells me my pup is every bit as happy when you pick her up. Says her eyes light up more than seeing the lights on Christmas Eve."_

I remember this. It was only a few months before that last mission with sensei.

Aya's here.

I try to dispel the genjutsu.

 _Sitting down in the girls' room of the rebel base. Aya's cuddled up to me, her light snores crowd out whatever I'm supposed to be doing. Even with my katana leaning against her, something that would set me on edge, she seems at peace._

This is her calming touch genjutsu. She explained it to me once. She preps it with the instructions to show something that soothes.

Curious, I dispel the gentjutsu again.

 _I sit on the river bank. Aya's a few paces in front of me, graceful as a hippo as she tries walking on the water's surface. She falls in, and a laugh jumps up from my chest. She swims up, gasping for air as he head breaches the surface. It's the fifteenth time she fell, but she doesn't seem to care. She swims towards me, climbing out of the water and turning heel as she goes right back at it. I can't help but admire the determination in her eyes, noticeable even through the grime clinging to her glasses._

I dispel the genjutsu again.

 _Aya's in the kitchen of her family home. She looks older now, taller… fuller. She's wearing a pink house dress with yellow butterflies and an apron with 'this cook bites' written in bold letters on the front. She's beating the batter for whatever she's preparing, but looks up at me. Her eyes light up, smiling brighter than the midday sun._

 _"Kids, momma's home!" she calls out, putting the mixing bowl on the counter just as three brats run into the kitchen. Two look like Aya when she was four. The third looks like me, but with wild hair like Aya—he's still in diapers as he waddles towards me._

 _I scoop the little boy up, listening to his gurgling out something as I walk over to Aya. The two little girls at her feet—twins from the look of it—peer at me from behind their mother's skirt. They giggle, their eyes lighting up as much as Aya's._

 _"Boo!" they announce in stereo, both heads leaning out as they play their game and cackle out a laughter that reminds me so much of Aya._

 _I walk over to them, a sense of belonging taking over my rationality. I know this is a genjutsu. I know this isn't real, that it isn't really happening. Yet I want it to. I want this so bad._

 _"Momma~aaaaaaa! You're always making kissy-faces at each other!" the little girl complains._

 _"Of course," Aya agrees, her eyes suddenly half-lidded and a teasing smile on her lips. She studies my mouth, letting me know exactly what she wants from me, what she needs. "A married couple should be loving, right Mi-chan?"_

 _I shiver, liking the sultry tone more than I should. Or is it the thought of taking her as my wife? The thought of us raising a family together? The thought of her waiting at home for me? I don't know. I don't care. Just let this be real._

My eyes snap into focus. The dreary bridge scene is back with a vengeance. The drab grey of concrete, the cloudy skies, the chill in the morning air.

Aya stands over Zabuza's battered and broken body. His arms are broken in at least three places each—upper arm, forearm, and hand. His legs are lain about at an odd angle—no doubt broken as well, given the bone pokes through his skin. And yet she stands there with her tetsubo hefted up onto her shoulder as her enraged and ragged breathing is highlighted by the waves hitting the pillars of the bridge beneath us.

"Aya," I call to her, a smile in my tone. Her shoulders and chest implode and explode with each breath, her hands and weapon trembling from the emotions laying siege to her sanity. "It's alright, Aya. If you tend to my injuries, I'll be fine."

She finally turns to me, her eyes wide and the wrath roiling within her on plain display. I raise my arms for her to see, my hands hanging at an unnatural angle to show the extent of the damage. "I'm in pain. A pain you can ease. Isn't that more important to you?"

She still kicks—and breaks, if the crunch means anything—Zabuza's ribs before she comes to me. She seals her weapon, still covered in Zabuza's blood. I look around, wondering where Haku is, but I can't find her. Aya must have sealed her away.

Is it sad? That three jounins just had their asses handed to them, only to be saved by a genin?

Then again, Namikis have always been in a class of their own.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"SHUT IT!" Aya bellows, stilling the murmuring of the crowd gathered outside Tazuna's home. She dragged a battered and bleeding Zabuza by his collar all the way here, which is likely the source of the murmuring.

With little reverence, Aya drops the rogue and leaves him there in the dirt. She turns to her subordinate, "Zeitou, go get the medic. I'm not tending to _that shit_." The boy bobs his head and takes off without a word. The awe in his eyes tells a tale most epics cannot match.

Aya goes to Honda, checking his injuries on more time. She'd reattached his arms, but she seems uncertain of her work for some reason. My broken bones were mended like she's been doing this for months, so there'll be no complaints from me.

"Che," Zabuza snorts, closing his eyes to not notice the looks he's getting. All of the genins are alternating between staring at him and staring at Aya. I can't blame them—injured or no, he wouldn't have fallen to my efforts alone.

"Come," Aya orders, her eyes on me. I see the doubts plaguing her, the worries that will keep her from sleeping tonight. "You need your rest."

"It's lunch time," I protest, looking away from her to hide my blush. As if on cue, my stomach announces its agreement with my assessment.

"After I get you settled in," she doesn't give an inch. The fear in her eyes surges, almost to the point of radiating outwards. Her gaze doesn't waver from mine, yet I sense her studying those now surrounding me. I get the impression she doesn't want non-loyals anywhere near me from how she frowns.

"Alright." I follow her, Zeitou and Michiko into the house, up the stairs into the same room as the reported meeting that happened without me. Satoko and Kana are setting food onto the table, and Yasu is busy explaining proper table manners to Reika and Sakiko. Not even the Uzumakis or Aomaru-kun seem to be allowed in here right now.

"Sit," Aya orders, unsealing something. Ah, her medic bag. Even after neutralizing the threat, she identified the bridge as enemy territory, so she prefers to tend to me here. I don't mind, it quiets my own instincts after all.

She goes through the motions of scanning my injuries again. She frowns, furrowing her brow—she doesn't like what she sees. My right forearm is bound with a splint, just to be safe. And she wraps both my arms in more gauze than is needed—extra padding to keep me safe, being my guess. She then takes some clothe and makes two slings for me, which she carefully wraps around me and eases my arms into them.

"Aya-sama?" Kana calls to her, offering her a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks. Aya takes both without a word, sitting herself on the table in front of me. I blush, looking away from her.

"I can feed myself, you know," I grouse. Broken arms or no, I've never had an issue fending for myself.

"You didn't complain in Saimogo," she argues. I don't know why I'm fighting her. I know she's only doing this because she cares, that she wants to take care of me. But I've… I've never felt this inept in my life. I…

"Hitomi. Byakugan, please," she demands. I turn to her, narrowing my eyes to wordless ask what that's about. "Just do it." She doesn't understand. She doesn't even come close to understanding where I am mentally.

 _Sigh_. It's pointless arguing, so I might as well.

On activating my bloodline limit, I see everyone and everything in the room—in the house—come almost painfully sharp into focus. I see Kakashi-san sitting near Ito an Honda, poking fun at them about needing a genin to save them. I see the medic tending to Zabuza, and how all the ex-rogues—or are they rogues once again?—staring at how thoroughly Aya thrashed him. I see Tsunami-san fussing over her father and checking every inch of him to make sure he isn't injured in any way.

More importantly, Aya is in my personal bubble scooping up rice for me to eat. She brings the steaming grains to her mouth and gently blows to help cool it off, before offering it to me. Opening my mouth, I feel, smell, and see the food she offers me. She so carefully turns to tear some meat and flesh from the fish beside her, blowing on that as well for my convenience.

However, it's the contact her body makes with mine that intrigues me. The way her chakra so seamlessly seeps into me, the way her warmth seeps into me. The way her very being offers herself up to me so easily, so completely.

It's how her hand rubs against my cheek as I chew on the latest mouthful she offered me. How her eyes seem both so full of life and on the verge of bursting into tears at the same time. It's the way my heart speeds up when she's looking right at me, and how it slows when she looks away. It's how my very chakra yearns to feel her, crowding every contact point between her and myself.

If only I could understand. How this slight girl somehow trampled my every defence, how she claimed every broken bit of me and makes me feel whole. How she's been on my mind every waking moment since I found her again in Hokage-sama's office.

At first, I thought it was only worry. Though it's true, there's… more to it, or at least I believe so. Certainly she worries me so thoroughly that I sometimes can't think straight. If she's eating right, if she's alone at night, if she refused to go to Yoshino-san's so she won't be alone during the day, if she… if she's alone in her room, hugging her knees to her chest like I did all those many sleepless nights.

But lately, she's been calling up a very different image. Instead of the lonely, scared little girl, I find myself thinking about the vivacious loudmouth that dragged me from stall to stall in Saimogo. I think about how she cuddled up to me during the play at the teahouse, how she idly lay her hand on my thigh and shared her food with me as if I was some sort of royalty.

I think about how she pushed herself past the point of exhaustion day after day after day, and how she would still find the energy to fish for our dinner, gut and clean it, and stake it so I can easily roast it for us. I think about how she never once considered eating if I couldn't or wouldn't. How she sleeps only if I am nearby—as if I'm the reason she sleeps better these days

Aya, unfazed by and unaware of my plight, continues feeding me every time I swallow, refusing to eat anything herself.

"You need to eat," I insist, wondering at how her cheeks glow in my vision from blushing. She scoops up another offering, bringing it to my lips.

"I will," she claims. I don't believe her. At all. She isn't the type to put her own needs first.

I lay my arms on her thighs, leaning closer to her. I can hear her heart beating, steady and strong, even as I see it soldiering on in her chest. Her breaths start coming out in shorter and shorter bursts—curious. Yet she doesn't stop tending to my needs.

Long after I've had my fill, she continues feeding me. So I pull my right arm out of the sling and reach for her mask. My fingertips hook the fabric and I pu—

"Stop that," she demands, pulling the mask down herself and laying my arm on her thigh again.

"Then eat," I demand. She rolls her eyes, but she takes a mouthful of rice all the same. She's completely different. As if her raging at the world was left in Konoha, like all she used to be is slowly waking up after a long slumber.

The world swims in colour again—I must have lost focus and deactivated my Byakugan. Her rosy cheeks puff out as her jaw jumps up and down to mince the food in her mouth. Her bespectacled eyes drink me in, just as I her.

Though her worries haven't been alleviated, the tension just below the surface eases with each time her hand flits over my hair or cheek or ghosts over any part of my exposed skin. Sitting here, surrounded by her pack as she tends to me like no one else would dare to, she's more at peace.

Whether she means to or not, she glows with a radiance I've never seen before. A radiance that steals the air from my lungs. I reach up, pulling a stray strand of her hair out of her face—as if the renegade was obstructing my view—and hook it behind her ear.

"Beautiful," I hear murmured. From how her eyes widen, her face slackens and is suddenly aflame, I guess my thoughts undermined my better judgement and jumped off my tongue without my permission.

Slowly, her face relaxes. Her eyes are half-lidded, dilating to show me how greedily she drinks me in. She muzzles my hand, now cupped against her warm cheek. I study her lips, wondering—though not for the first time—how they taste.

"You know," she murmurs, looking away from me. Every visible patch of her skin reddens, her chest heaves with her every breath. "You still owe me something."

I should demand that she tell me what she said that night. I should tease her. And yet…

All I find myself capable of doing is trailing my fingertip along her jawline as I gently, wordlessly, ask her not to turn from me.

Our eyes meet.

I see her desire mirroring my own.

I lean in.

She leans in.

I close my eyes.

I breathe her in.

Warmth.

Her breath kisses my face.

The scent of rice and roasted mackerel.

Her lips meet mine.

Her fingers dance through my hair.

My hand snakes around her middle.

It should be a chaste kiss. First kisses should be sweet, memorable.

I pull back.

She nibbles my lower lips, pulling me back towards her, refusing to let this moment end.

If that's what she wants. I deepen the kiss.

My fingertips scrape against the fabric of her shirt.

She moans, kissing me again and again. And again.

I smile, unable to fight it any longer.

I feel her smiling as well, neither of us able to continue because of it.

I breathe. Breathe her in.

"Whoa," she manages, breathless.

"Yeah," I agree, leaning my forehead against hers. My heart is still going a mile a minute.

"Did we just witness the first kiss?" I hear from someone—I don't care who.

"Oh, kami-sama… I think I'm going to cry." I block them out, enjoying the—

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I jerk awake, already reaching fo—

My arms are constricted. Panic fills me, sweat pours down my face.

"You're safe," Aya assures me. I activate my Byakugan, finding myself sitting up and lain between her thighs, her arms snaked around my shoulders.

I breathe, deep and soothing to calm myself down.

Soothing shushing sounds seep into my world as she murmurs over and again that she'll keep me safe.

We're in the same room as before, still surrounded by her pack… our pack. Everyone slumbers, everyone but Aya and now myself as well. Relieved, I deactivate my eyes, letting the world be wrapped in darkness once again.

Comfort is short-lived, however, as I think about that… what was that? I could have sworn…

"What happened?" I ask, confused. Aya and I _were_ making out, right. Was that a dream?

"You fell asleep," she soothes. "You're in recovery, remember? That takes more energy than you'll be comfortable with."

"Not that," I huff, the fear it was a dream overriding my usual levelheadedness. What is it about her that gets under my skin so easily?

"You mean the kiss?" she teases, her finger gently tugging my chin to the right. Even in the low lighting, I see the amusement in her eyes.

She kisses me—but a peck, really.

"You didn't dream it," she assures me. I breathe a sigh of relief, the rising panic stilled. "You're relieved?"

"N-nn," I noise, blushing. "I… may have been dreaming about it… often." Why did I tell her that?! She must think I'm some sort of pervert. Considering the things I've been dreaming about doing to her, I'm inclined to agree.

"Nn," she noises dreamily, a smile obvious in her tone. "Me, too." Warmth swims in my chest as the worry evaporates like the morning dew.

"Listen, Aya," I begin. It isn't fair that she eases my pains and worries while I let her walk around with hers. "I need to tell you something. After you fell asleep, the night before we left Konoha… I had a talk with Shikaku and Yoshino."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **~Flashback. Nara head family's residence, spare bedroom.~**

Aya's breathing evens out, her face smoothens. She's already asleep. Curious, I activate my Byakugan and study her. Her chakra is tense, uneasy. Even now, she can barely breathe, as if there's a weight on her chest that never eases.

Yoshino-san swore she'd keep an eye on Aya for me. She must have noticed it, too. Is this why she and Shikaku-san demanded Aya leave Konoha for a while?

Curious, I scan the house, finding the pair in the study downstairs. With little more than a nod, I move to stand, ignoring the shooting pain from my side.

"D-don't," Aya murmurs, already tossing and turning. "Hyuuga… please… don't." Barely asleep, already the nightmares start up.

I go to her, hooking a stray hair behind her ear as I kiss her brow. She breathes a sigh, settling down without a fuss.

"Sweet dreams, Aya," I murmur, wondering at the blush suddenly stealing across her face. "No nightmares tonight, okay?"

Without another word, I leave the room and silently close the door behind me. Once downstairs I knock on the door to the study.

"Come in, Hitomi," Shikaku-san drawls. I open the door, finding the pair of them going over a mountain of paperwork. "Close the door behind you."

The instant I release the doorknob, the tingling of a privacy jutsu ripples over my skin. I feared as much.

"There's much to discuss, and not a lot of time," Yoshino-san begins. "Danzo has been making overt moves to claim Aya. As have at least three clans."

I sneer, balling my hands so tightly that my nails bite into my flesh. Hasn't she been through enough?!

"It gets worse." My blood pressure skyrockets, giving me an instant headache. "They're accusing us of brainwashing her, and they will no doubt do the same or worse to you. They demand that Aya be placed under their protection, to keep her safe from us."

"Over. My. Dead. Body," I grind out.

"We feel the same. That's why we petitioned Hokage-sama to send Aya on a training mission. Originally, I was to take her myself…" she trails off, her eyes suddenly holding great pain. "But she doesn't trust us." Shikaku takes his wife into his arms, murmuring things I can't make out—nor do I care to.

I had long known the Naras care for Aya. I used to come with Miwako-sensei to both drop her off and pick her up, so noticing wasn't difficult. For the first time, however, I see just how deeply.

They love her. Much the way any parent would love their child.

"I put in the request for you to take her," Shikaku picks up where she left off. "Because we can't think of anyone else that she'd willingly go with. Especially under the circumstances."

"I don't understand," I admit, narrowing my eyes at them. He painstakingly explains Aya's position of the Uzumaki clan's shadow guard, of how she guards their archives, how she guards the Fourth's hidden library. He even explains what little they know of her suicidal ideation—luckily no attempts.

"That's why it has to be you," Yoshino murmurs, tears streaming down her cheeks. "She's suffered this depression for so long, she no longer remembers the person she used to be. She hates shopping. She hates dressing up and doing her hair. The only thing she has left of who she used to be, is reading."

My chest tightens, tears threaten to break free.

"But with you? I see how she looks at you, Hitomi. I see the smile tugging at her lips. How the hollowness of her eyes fades."

"Tell me what to do," I beg. There's **no way** I'm letting her deal with any of this alone!

 **~End Flashback~**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"So that's why I woke up alone," Aya murmurs. I can almost imagine her knitting her brow as she goes over the information I just gave her.

"Yeah," I confirm, though I know she doesn't need me to. I feel horrible she had another nightmare because I wasn't there to comfort her, but the payoff is worth one bad night. "The three of us were planning everything. Up to the point of entering that bar in Saimogo. The trainings, the festival, the teahouse, the raiding the bandit camps—all of that we'd planned to give you everything you need."

Her grip on me becomes almost painful—the sudden wetness on my neck tells me she isn't trying to kill me.

"We care about you, Aya. We want to be everything you need," I assure her. She takes in a shuddering breath. What that means, I'm not sure. "Get some sleep. We've a long day ahead of us."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 19_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Sorry this took so long. I've had a week of no internet, stomach flu, and the worst case of writer's block I've ever suffered through. Still, I hope the content was worth the wait ^_^  
_**


	20. Three moves

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 20 – Three moves**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"We care about you, Aya. We want to be everything you need," Hitomi assures me. I take in a shuddering breath, trying to calm my emotions. This isn't the time to get emotional. This is the time to plan, to perfect my moves before we get back to Konoha. There's literally nothing keeping us from going back, and at worst it should take four days to get there. "Get some sleep. We've a long day ahead of us."

"I'm awake because I'm planning something," I admit, unwilling to hide this from her. "But I can't tell you… not yet."

"Aya?" I know what you're about to say, Hitomi. I know you want to remind me that I can tell you anything. But I don't work like that. "Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san will already have a plan in place for when we get back. I'm certain of it."

"And that won't include the Namiki clan," I remind her, blushing at my lack of faith in her. She tenses. "It won't include freeing you from the Hyuugas. And it can't include the… little surprises I have in store."

"You…?"

"Even if we decide what we have isn't 'it'… You're still pack," I tell her plainly. "The Hyuugas don't treat you right. So I am doing something about that." Tension leaves her completely, she snuggles into my embrace with her head resting on my shoulder as if nothing in the world is wrong.

"You need your rest. I'll explain everything when we're in a more secure environment." She nods, her breathing evening out. She's already asleep. Lucky her.

Now, let's see. Step one is getting my non-combatants into the den, and making sure they understand they're to open to no one. Once I do that, I'll need sensei brought up to speed in a hurry—she and Nara-sama will need to work with my plan, not against it. Now, what to do with…?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Shut it, Hatake," I grind out. I'd called for a Namiki family meeting, so of course, the prince of the universe decides that includes him. "What I have to say has nothing to do with you, your clan, or your position as jounin."

He stands there, trying to go without his crutch for the first time, so he's still a little wobbly on his feet. He looks defiant anyway.

"What you have planned includes Naruto-kun. That includes me. If not for my position as his sensei, then for my _other position_ ," he insists, giving me a meaningful look. I snort, knowing he means the Fourth's sole surviving student.

"This is what I get for hoping," I grouse, rubbing my forehead and going over the roll call in my head. Currently, I only have the Namiki family members in here, because I wanted to fly under Hatake's radar—he's been nothing if not frustrating when it comes to private meetings. "Michiko. Get Eimi, her brothers, the Uzumakis, and Yuki. Tell them I need them in here." She nods, leaving without a word.

With Hatake here, I can't explain even the most basic thing about my plan—which I wasn't planning to, but now I need to be extra careful. That means I have to keep it to: this is what you need to know, this is what you need to do.

It takes them less than a minute to arrive, with Sarutobi in tow. Interesting, but predictable. "Everyone sit down. Lots to discuss, not a lot of time," I demand. They don't even nod, they just find a spot and plop down onto it.

Michiko closes the door, standing guard near me. I turn to her and smile, her eyes twinkle in return, but her lips don't twinge. Casting the privacy jutsu, I get down to it.

"We leave for Konoha tomorrow. On arriving in Konoha, things are going to change. The first thing we're doing is getting our civilians somewhere secure," I nod to Yasu, Satoko, Kana, Reika, and Sakiko. They smile, grateful my first priority is keeping them safe. "Uzumakis, Yuki, this includes you. Combatants or not, you will attract all the wrong attention at this point in the game."

There's some murmuring, but overall everyone seem okay with it so far.

"Naruto knows the rules in my den, so any questions you have you can ask him. However, the one rule no one breaks, is that no one opens the gate but me. **No one** ," I stare all of them down to impress just how completely I mean that, "is to touch that gate but me. No one is to be let in without my permission. If someone rings on and I am not there, you are to ignore it completely. No exceptions."

Nods abound, everyone's eyes zeroed in on me as I lay down the law. They're taking this seriously, good.

"Naruto. While I'm out, I need you to handle three things for me," I turn to him, but don't meet his gaze. "First is the tour of the den. Don't try assigning rooms to anyone, I'll handle that myself." He nods.

"Second, is taking everyone into the back yard and starting them on some basic drills. Teach them like I taught you, but go easier on Yasu, Kana, and Satoko. They aren't meant to use taijutsu unless every other option's been tried." He nods again, smiling to show he understands how much I trust him.

"Third, I need you to aid Yasu in any way you can. She'll be in charge of running the den for us, and she'll no doubt have questions you will need to answer." He nods again, grinning and rubbing the back of his head as he beams at me.

"Yasu, you know your duties already. Satoko, Kana, Reika, and Sakiko are your responsibility. Everything civilian related is to be your responsibility. I know this is a lot to ask of you, so if there is something you need to aid you in any way, discuss it with me privately and we'll come to a compromise that's fair to all parties involved. Is that agreeable?"

"It is, Aya-sama," she assures me, bowing her head.

"Good. Anything civilian related is therefore to be discussed with Yasu before coming to me. But let me make a few things perfectly clear what doesn't need to be discussed." All eyes are riveted on me once again. "The first is the right to leave the den unaccompanied. No one here has that. Not even me. The Uzumakis and Yuki are expected to stick together without fail. The Namikis are expected to stick together without fail. Keep in mind that I fully expect people to try to harm you. I don't want to give them the chance. As such, no Namiki is permitted to leave without my accompanying you."

There's some grumbling here and there, but they seem to understand I'm trying to keep them safe.

"To balance this, you can expect a few group trips into the village every week. You will all need a wardrobe. Our shinobi will need tools, weapons, uniforms, and such. And there will be at least one restaurant trip per week while I am in Konoha. We will decide which one by popular vote, which will not include my opinion." They look confused. "My vote will only count when there is a tie of some sort, or no clear victor." They smile, liking the sound of that.

"Next is the need to work. That is not an issue. As alpha, it's my job to provide. My goal is to refuse all non-wartime missions, so I will be refusing the same for our shinobis. I need you all at home, training." They all grin, but the Uzumakis look concerned. "Yes, carrot tops and blondie, that includes you. I'll be discussing with Sarutobi to start your training into the sealing arts. And I'll be taking Haruki as a student in the medical arts." They look relieved, almost giddy at that.

Okay, nothing too revealing for my plans. And this will all be revealed within the first day of arriving in Konoha. So no foul involved Hatake.

"Yuki. I don't know what your plan is. Think about what you want, discuss it with Naruto. If he thinks my help is needed, he'll let me know." Yuki nods, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

"Now. The last major thing is relationships. It isn't my place to tell you who to date, but understand that whoever it is will need to accept how a wolf pack operates." Yasu, Satoko, and Kana fidget—they aren't looking forward to relationships, if my guess is right. "I will be teaching all of you the sensory jutsus of the Namiki family. That means you will all know if someone is having sex." The Uzumakis and Yuki look a little pasty at that thought. Eimi and her brothers look at each other a little nervous, but they seem okay with it for the most part. It's the others…

Mikchiko and Zeitou just shrug, likely used to that already with their bloodline limit. Yasu, Satoko, Kana, and Sakiko shrug—they must be used to seeing it already. Ooh, am I going to enjoy presenting that bandit chief to the Fire daimyo and explaining to him who's responsible for Yasu's poor treatment. And Reika? She just barely doesn't shrug as she smiles at me.

"In other words, if anyone—and I mean _anyone_ —tries to force you into a relationship, you are to report the incident to me immediately. Even if it's flirting that you're uncomfortable with. Is that clear?"

They take turns assuring me that they understand. The Namiki ladies—Michiko and Eimi not included—beam, grateful I have their backs in this.

"I will do what I can to introduce you to people in a safe environment. Even if you are uninterested in a relationship, having a friend or two is never a bad thing. But keep one thing in mind. Though I will not force you into a relationship, if I feel the person you are interested in isn't trustworthy? I will forbid them from entering my den. No exceptions."

"What… happens if you don't approve?" Minori asks. I don't know why… oh crap, the Uzumakis don't know I'm getting them their own den.

"If you're serious about the relationship, I'll arrange an apartment for you outside the den," I assure her. Everyone relaxes, for some reason. It's almost as if I didn't just explain this. "As I said, it isn't my place to dictate your relationships. Just as it isn't yours to dictate who I can or cannot let into my den."

"Aya-sama?" Yasu looks nervous about something. I nod to her. "What trainings will we…?"

"That will be discussed behind closed doors," I mutter, glaring at Hatake. The asshole just eye-smiles, as if he isn't being an invasive piece of shit. "Just so you all know, we'll be holding meetings like this regularly to keep everyone on the same page. Everyone will be expected to attend all meetings. And even unofficial relationships like, Hitomi and myself, should be admitted openly. If you do not, everyone will assume it's a fling and should keep their opinions to themselves. Is that understood?"

"So bedding every chick in Konoha is acceptable?" Michiko asks, grinning at her little brother. He gets a goofy grin as well.

"I don't know why you'd want to, but that isn't my concern," I opine, shrugging. "Namikis are typically monogamous, and fiercely loyal to our mates. In time, I'm sure you'll see for yourself why we are this way. But should no mate be viable? I see nothing wrong with a fling. And just so you know, if you decide to have a child outside of wedlock, I won't care. Every pup born into this pack is the pack's pup. Caring for said pup is all of our responsibilities."

Kana and Satoko share a look, seemingly relieved. I raise an eyebrow at them. "Something to say?"

"N-not really," Satoko stutters. I narrow my eyes at them, taking a deep sniff. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"It's just," Kana begins, a faraway look in her eyes. "We've been thinking about it. It's possible one of us is… Well… you know."

"If any female of our pack is pregnant," the pair of them blush, "it's the concern of the pack. Not for the sake of telling you to keep the baby or not, but for the sake of keeping you safe."

"So…?" Kana looks about ready to cry, so relieved.

"If you are pregnant and choose to abort? That's your choice. We'll respect it. Though I'd prefer teaching you to avoid getting pregnant in the first place," I offer, thinking about that. Sex slaves. Of course they'd be worried about possibly being pregnant. "But if you get pregnant and choose to keep it? We'll respect that, as well. We'll help you every step of the way. Through your pregnancy, through labour, through raising your pups. Your children are our children. We will support you to our last breath. No questions, no exceptions."

All ladies start crying a little—for some reason. I don't understand why, and I don't plan on asking.

"It's a little different for the guys. We will support and defend your pregnant mate, not so much you. So if she decides to keep or abort, we'll support that. If she keeps the baby, we'll be there for her every step of the way, and we will haunt your dumb asses to make sure you will as well. If you don't like it? Don't get her pregnant. And Yuki, I'll be looking into options for you, for when you're ready to start a family. I see no reason you should have to sleep with someone you're not attracted to just to have a child."

Yuki, Michiko, and Eimi get all emotional about that. Again, don't get it and don't plan to try.

"More importantly, when I have clan head status, marriages within my clan are no one's concern but my own. Should you wish to wed, come to me. Same sex or not, I'll legally be allowed to officiate your marriage." Everyone gets emotional about that, though, three this will affect, more so. "The only rule I have, is that all pregnant women be in my den for the duration of their pregnancy. It'll be easiest for the pack to defend them there. And it'll be easier to support them during the first months of the pup's life, when care is most intensive."

"What about our partner?" Zeitou asks. I narrow my eyes, trying to make sense of his question. "If you approve of them, would they be treated as a member of the pack?"

"Of course," I assure him—and the others, given how everyone sports a soft smile. "That's the exact reason why the pack should have a chance to approve of your mate. If we, the pack, approve of your mate? Your mate becomes part of the pack, and is therefore offered the same rights and respects as any member of the pack. However, that means that even if you break up, they will still be a member of the pack. So be very careful who you bring home to momma. If I like them, I like them."

"That's fair," Zeitou agrees, smiling a little smile. That smile turns into a smirk. Then a full-blown grin as his eyes study Yuki. "So what are doing to the dick that gave Ao-chan lip?"

"So long as you don't act violently?" I muse, going over plausible outcomes. I'd hear a fight breaking out, so I can back them up if it gets out of hand. "Then you may do as you please. Keep in mind, I'll be in here tending to Hitomi. So don't bite off more than you can chew."

"That's fair," he agrees a little too easily. "You mind if we borrow the bag with kimonos?" I blink.

Homophobic asshole. Guy asking about girls' kimonos. I'm willing to bet he's planning a cross dressing stint. If that doesn't get under his skin, I don't know what will.

"Alright," I agree, unsealing two bags for them to have options to choose from. "Only wear an obi belt if it has the family crest. And Michiko, I want you and Eimi acting as their escorts. If this is what I think it is, having you two acting as their gentlemen will be like fuel on an open flame."

Both girls grin like the Cheshire cat. They share a look that tells me they'll be enjoying this more than anyone.

"Hold up!" Naruto jumps in. "Ain't nobody planning a prank without me!"

"I'm up for it," Minori pipes up.

"I can do your make-up," Kana offers, beaming. Oh, the stories I'm going to hear about this.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Standing on the bridge, the whole town's here to see us off. They're cheering and waving and some are in tears as they see their 'heroes' off. All of the assholes I pawned off on Tazuna are here, too, but they all look uncomfortable as fuck. I'm too busy being amused to care about them.

After all, Minori is wearing Naruto's orange jumpsuit. Naruto, Haruki, and Yuki are wearing bright red women's kimonos with orange obis belts displaying the Uzumaki swirl.

Eimi and Mikchiko are wearing my spare outfits—they pestered me until I relented. Atsu, Tsuji, and Zeitou are also wearing women's kimonos—bright pink, might I add—with the wolf kanji on their obi belts.

Yasu, Satoko, and Kana somehow conjured up a few men's kimonos—don't ask me how—displaying the kanji for wolf between their shoulder blades. While Reika, Sakiko, and I are wearing the same style clothing we have been.

What's more! Naruto taught all of them a simplified version of his 'sexy jutsu', so all of them are sporting elegant long hair and rather effeminate faces, while the girls are looking quite dapper with their five o'clock shadows.

It's the most amusing scene I've ever witnessed. And the guys blowing kisses at the crowd only serves to further heighten my enjoyment. Hitomi's so busy beaming at our group that she doesn't seem to notice that one guy dry retching over by a shrub—poor actor, I smell his arousal.

The people of Wave either don't know, or don't care. They're calling out Naruto's name, calling out my name, begging us to come back and visit. Tsunami and her teary-eyed son wave Tazuna off, since he's coming with us.

All in all, it's a send-off worthy of a daimyo. A shame the rest of Team Seven is here. And the only member of Sarutobi's team I'm sort of okay with is Sarutobi herself—not sure how to feel about her wearing a jounin outfit. Is she in drag? She was wearing a battle dress with chuunin vest before…

Whatever.

We start moseying along, Reika and Sakiko still waving to the crowd as they fade into the distance. There isn't much interesting going on, but Yuki's quietly beaming long after we reach the shore of the Land of Fire.

"Thank you, guys," Yuki gushes, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Are you kiddin'! Seeing that guy's face when all of us started hittin' on him?" Naruto belts out, his facing being split by a grin, obviously enjoying his title of prank king—though I still haven't heard anyone refer to him as such. "Priceless!"

"Oh, yeah! And it's kinda cool being treated like a guy for a change," Minori adds her two Ryou. "Besides, Ao-chan. You know we've got your back."

"I ain't even gonna pretend to get what you kids are into these days," Tazuna grumbles, taking a swig of his booze. Still, he smiles and pats Ao… fuck it, Ao on his back. "But I'll tell you this. You've got yourself some good friends, boy. Treat 'em right, ya hear?"

"Yes, sir!" Ao enthuses, beaming.

Other than that, nothing interesting happens en route. Everyone changes back to his or her usual wear after we make camp for the night. I teach Sakiko and Reika how to fish, the way Hitomi taught me. I help Hitomi with her meal, per the norm these days. Tsuji and Ao end up making out for nearly an hour—they try to be sneaky about it, but I smell their scents intertwined and the not so subtle arousal on both of them.

Like I said, nothing interesting. Unless I count Hitomi's growing fascination with pulling down my mask while I'm feeding her. Or maybe making Hatake drag Momochi's blade when he's still not a hundred per cent.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

In the distance, I see the gates of Konoha. Everyone of our group relaxes, having finally made it—after two and a half days walking. While they relax more and more, I'm getting more and more annoyed. Nothing would have changed in this backwater hick village. Everyone's still out to fuck me over—or fuck me into wedding vows.

Still, I snuggle up to Hitomi, making sure I'm close enough to calm her nerves as we'll soon be surrounded by two-bit shitstains. "Breathe, Aya. Kakashi-san sent word to the Naras," she soothes.

Curiously, that does help. Breathing come easier, knowing that Nara-sama and sensei will have something arranged to help us in any and every way they can.

Coming closer to the gate, I smell them. Nara-sama, sensei, Yamanaka from T&I, Akimichi from the council, and Inuzuka from Anbu and the council with her two pups and their collection of ninja hounds.

More than that? "AooooooooooOOOOOO!" Lady howls, obviously having smelled me. I howl right back, glad to see her taking off through the gate to come trotting towards me. She's missing a leg—the injured one was clearly amputated while I was away. She doesn't seem to care.

She runs right up to me, stopping just shy of my personal bubble as she starts running circles around me just to show she can. She starts grumbling and grunting out little messages—it's kind of hard to make it all out with how excitable she is.

"Alright, Lady. Calm down, I can't understand a word you're saying," I tease, unable to fight the smile hard enough. She stops running, sitting down in front of me and whining about Hana's stupid decision to amputate while she was out cold. She goes on to explain about how she doesn't mind, because the pain finally stopped, and she's been wrestling with Akamaru ever since—and winning most of the time. I laugh, enjoying her enthusiasm.

Her eyes wander, wordlessly asking about all the people that carry my scent.

"Right, sorry. Introductions. Lady, meet the rest of our pack. The Uzumakis. Naruto you already know. These are Minori, Aomaru, and Haruki. Hitomi you remember no doubt. And the rest of the Namiki pack. Yasu, Sakiko, Reika, Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi, Atsu, and Tsuji. Everyone, this is Lady, my pup."

Lady sniffs Hitomi. Only Hitomi. "Yes, Lady. She finally made her move," I confirm. Lady no doubt noticed that our scent is so intertwined that it's getting hard to tell us apart by scent alone. Everyone from our pack grins, blushing at how open I am about Hitomi and me being a thing. Even if it's just a wolf pup, they know I'd be just as flagrant to anyone I trust enough.

"Now, come on. Aren't you going to escort your pack into the village?" I tease, grinning when Lady puffs out her chest and saunters ahead of us to lead the way. In fact, she leads us to the customs office, turning to us and sitting down to mark where we're supposed to be. The Uzumakis gush over how smart she is, and Minori tries to pet her—Lady growls to show she isn't in the mood for that. No one else tries it, luckily.

"Rule of wolves. We pick our own pack. No one gets in on a free ride," I explain, petting Lady and scratching behind her ear.

"Ah, Namiki-san. We were told to expect you. Nara Shikaku sent the forms needed to register a number of shinobi and civilians under both Namiki and Nara protection," the gate guard announces. I smile, grateful for Nara-sama like never before. "Curiously, there are two forms? So there are two distinct groups?"

"Yes," I agree, taking the forms but not explaining more than that to him. "Naruto?" I give him the extra form. He nods, already calling his three to help him fill it in.

Meanwhile, I'm discussing with my group what kanji they write their name with. Reika and Sakiko don't know, so Yasu suggests 'beautiful flower' for Reika, and 'saki child' for Sakiko. Saki pouts and grumbles when Kana explains that 'saki' is a type of jungle monkey she'd read about, but Yasu carefully explains it's either that or 'gauze self child', which is the only other spelling she knows of 'Sakiko'.

Everyone but the two Iis with us get registered as Namikis—even Eimi and her brothers have earned the right, given how fiercely loyal Ao says they've been… and Tsuji and Ao making out certainly isn't hurting their case. All in all, in under five minutes we fill in the important bits and hand two filled in forms back to the gate guard.

"Alright. I'll make sure this gets processed for you. Here's your stub, don't lose it," he says, offering me two stubs with the same numbers as the papers we'd just handed him. I take them both, sealing them into my glove for safekeeping. "By the way, are you stowing away anyone of note? I've heard rumours that you've become quite the… noteworthy kunoichi." Do I detect cortisol? Are you starting to fear what I might become if Konoha continues fucking with me and mine?

"I have a few dozen sealed away, yes," I agree easily. "All of which will either be delivered directly to T&I for processing, or delivered to Hokage-dono for reasons I'm not permitted to discuss."

"Names?"

"Classified," I inform him snidely.

"That's the blade of Momochi Zabuza, correct?"

"Found it by the side of the road. Imagine that," I drone, glaring daggers at him. He swallows hard, not wanting to press any further.

"And you!" I round on the other guard, who's been staring at Yasu for the last minute. "Continue staring at my sister and I'll neuter you, and send your boss the bill."

"S-sorry," he mutters, flushing and looking away.

"Yasu-nee, that's why you have a tanto. If they don't get the subtle hints, you unsheathe it and point that at him instead," I bark out, still glaring at the rude little shit.

"Sorry, little sister," she teases, petting my head to calm me down. "I'll be sure to warn you next time I notice something like that?"

"You do that," I agree. My eyes fall on Satoko and Kana—neither has a tanto. "Michiko, Zeitou. Stay close to these two. I don't like that they're unarmed in public."

"Of course, Aya-sama," the pair agrees easily, stepping up to the pair I mentioned. We move on without another word, but I do hear an interesting exchange behind us.

"Staring at a Namiki?! Are you off your meds, Izumo?!" He's whispering, mostly, but I hear the incredulity all the same.

"I swear! I didn't know she was a Namiki! Oh, kami-sama, she's gonna maul me in my sleep!" He sounds and smells distressed—that brings a special little smile to my face. Scene one created. Coupled with the thing with Hokage-dono coming up? We should be the talk of the village before sunset.

Leaving those two to figure out their own stupidity—and curious about why I haven't met more resistance thus far—I lead my group up to another group waiting for us.

I don't say a word, walking up to sensei as she unzips her flak jacket for me. I ease into her arms, laying my head against her tummy as I listen to the orchestra of her body playing the sweetest symphony for me.

"Welcome home, baby," sensei murmurs, pulling back the cloth covering my head and combing through my hair to set me at ease.

"Nn," I noise. Hitomi! I pull back, already turning to see… oh. She's fine. Eimi and her brothers have taken up formation around her. Okay. Breathe. I turn back into sensei's embrace, relaxing just a little. "Need a favour."

"Hnn?" sensei noises to show she's listening.

"I need you three to stay in my den for a bit. Hitomi's injured, and we have civilians that need to be socialised. You're the only one I'd…" She tenses slightly, and I get the impression she's looking to Nara-sama for some reason.

"We'll discuss it later," she meets me halfway. "For now, I'll stay with them in your home. Then we can discuss this over dinner?"

"That's fair. You mind inviting Team Ten and their parents?" Sensei relaxes into our hug.

"Oi, what about me?" Hatake butts in, sounding butt-hurt about it. I'm busy enjoying a hug here! Fuck off!

"Marry a Namiki, Uzumaki, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, or Sarutobi. Then we'll talk."

"You'd turn a patient away? Doc, I'm hurt!" he's so dramatic about it.

"It's called a hospital. Big building, filled with doctors. Heard of it?" I'm not in the mood for you, Hatake. Besides, I have more than enough little projects going on. Projects that need my immediate attention, so even hugs have to wait. I pull back from sensei, turning to my next target.

"Sarutobi. I'll need you, as well. I have a job for you." I point my nose in her direction, looking at my gloves to show what I mean.

"I'll be there," she assures me, heading off with her team—probably to report in. Didn't they have to return something? Whatever.

"Inuzuka," I turn to the trio, finding Lady already in a tussle with Akamaru. I bite my lip, trying not to draw attention to how she's already pinned him to the ground and is licking his snout to show she doesn't look down on him for it. "The Namiki family is in your debt." I bow to them, knowing without looking that my pack bows with me. They may not know why, but they know I'm not one to toss words like that around carelessly.

"So the lone wolf finally has a pack," the youngest Inuzuka states the obvious. His eyes take in the group with me. "I need your help with _her_. Do that, and I'll call it even." The shy Hyuuga, no doubt.

"Alright," I agree with a nod, not bothering to point out I already have plans for her. "We'll be in touch." He nods, his eyes wandering over my pack and sniffing to memorize them.

"Aya?" I body flicker to Hitomi, already unsealing my tetsubo to slaughter whatever got too close for her comfort. I glare at everything that exists near her, daring anything—animate or no—to become a threat to her. "Calm down. I just have a question." She sounds a little too amused.

"S-sorry," I murmur, sealing my weapon and pulling down my mask—to hopefully remind myself we're no longer (technically) in enemy territory. I feel the sun on my skin for the first time in weeks… months. I can barely remember. How long have I been gone?

She takes her right hand out of her sling, combing her fingers through my hair. "Would you mind if Hana comes to dinner?" she asks. So that's why she's trying to calm me down first.

She'd have to report in, as well. Both elder Inuzukas are Anbu Ops, so one of them would no doubt be able to report in for her.

"Hmm?" It's ten thirty AM. I have a thing to handle with Hokage-dono, which shouldn't take more than twenty minutes. Approximation for fuck ups puts me at eleven fifteen. Dropping off Momochi and Yuki at T&I, hmm… I could make an appointment with Yamanaka right now for that, so it should shorten this trip… I'd say fifteen minutes if I'm already in the Tower. Shopping for food and some basics for my pack—better keep in mind sensei will want to do an expansive trip with each later, so the absolute basics should be fine—I'd say an hour at most. That's one at the latest—travel time and fuck ups, once again added, just in time for lunch. Forty-five minutes to eat. Getting called into the council chambers for two, which should take about an hour…

Everything else is to be set in motion tomorrow, which is why I need my allies up to date tonight. Hmm. Not too tight, then.

"I'll be home for three. She's welcome any time after three thirty and before six, but I'm afraid she can't come to dinner," I meet her halfway. "I'm on a tight schedule. So I'm afraid we have to go. Daddy, uncle," I look to Yamanaka so he knows I mean him, "I'm going to need both of you for at least an hour. Walk with me and I'll explain. And Hatake, I swear if I catch you minding my business again I'll bitch slap you worse than I did _him_."

"Now, now," he motions for me to calm down, "Shikaku-san's orders."

"He's here. He'll hear it for himself. Fuck off, Hatake."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We walk at a fairly quick clip, but even now I'm going over the details I need to be absolutely perfect for all this to work. The second we get to my gate, I bite my thumb and smear some blood on the seal. I open the gate, motioning everyone inside—I need to unseal the house, or they'll be stuck in the yard all day in the blazing sun.

As I close the gate, I address sensei. "Naruto and Hitomi can do proper introductions. I'm going to need you to consider what they'll need clothing-wise and I'll need you and Hitomi discussing weapon options with them. Only discussing, I plan on tackling that with them the day after tomorrow. Naruto and Yasu know the pecking order, and they have instructions what needs to be done first. I'm going to get food and some basics while I'm out. And do not answer the doorbell or open the gate for **anyone**. I don't care who you think it is. I'll explain later, I promise."

Having made it to the front door, I slap my palm against the seal and fish out my keys. "Michiko, Zeitou. You're with me. Reika, you need to keep an eye on Hitomi for me. And Naruto." I turn to blondie, giving him a look to show I'm trusting him with both the vulnerable of my pack and my injured mate.

"Ain't a hair on her head gonna be outta place. Believe it!" he assures me, giving me a thumbs up and a nice guy pose.

"Lady. I'm sorry, but I need you here as well. I'll explain when I get home, okay?" She whines, but sidles over to Naruto all the same. With everyone dealt with, I go to Hitomi. "I won't be gone long."

"I know," she brags, smirking. "Leave your scrolls with me, I'll sort through everything."

"We're dealing with that tonight. That's why I want you to take the time to rest." Her eyes twinkle, her face smoothens to show how at ease she is with it all. "I have to go." She nods, leaning in. We kiss—short and sweet—and her eyes glow just a little brighter for me.

"Bring me back some breaded chicken and a rice ball?"

"Alright. Promise me you'll rest?"

She nods, not fighting me at all. "I'll be in your bed waiting." I bite my lip to mask a face-splitting grin. I like the sound of that.

"You want more food, don't you."

She nods again. "Red grapes and a grapefruit with brown sugar. It's been so long since I've had."

"I'll throw in an order of squid okonomiyaki with the green tea sauce if you stop trying to show off. I'm on a schedule, you know." Kami-sama, I really don't want to leave her. That I know she'll be cared for doesn't lessen that.

"Trying implies a risk of failing." She sounds so cocky, so sure of herself. "You remembering my favourites shows I couldn't fail if I tried." She gives me another quick peck, just because she can. I sigh, gazing up at her.

"Fine. You win. But I don't want to hear you complaining later if you don't have enough space for dinner."

"I won't if you bring that for lunch."

 _Sigh_. Fine! "Slave driver."

"Make sure you bring something for you and the others."

"Yeah, yeah. Get your butt inside already," I shoo her. She decides to kiss my brow one last time.

"Help me with my sandals?"

"You're impossible. You know that?" And why does everyone look so fucking amused?!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"What I'm saying is that the daimyo will need a private audience with me and Hokage-dono. He'll need to hear the facts from the bridge builder, Hatake, Gatou, and the corrupt nephew. And knowing him, he'll ask for a pre-meeting discussion with Yasu and myself. I don't care how you plan any of that, that's on you. All I need to know is where and when."

I can't believe this is even a discussion. Nara-sama and Yamanaka are both pretty accepting of it all, given they've had the most interactions with me lately. But Hokage-dono is being a downright PMSing bitch!

"Give me your written report," he demands, trying for the umpteenth time to order me around.

"Give me the reason I wasn't allowed to know shit before leaving Konoha," I retort. He frowns, his eyes flicking towards Nara-sama to rein me in. "Don't look for backup! Your daimyo demanded this happen as stipulated. I have the people he needs an audience with, and I am well aware that you aren't in a position to refuse his demands. So if you continue fucking with me, Sarutobi, I'll report it to your boss."

He sighs, reaching into his drawer and taking out a bottle that curiously has my name written on it. It smells of painkillers. I'm touched.

"The second I heard you were in Wave, I knew you'd become my next migraine," he grumbles, popping the bottle open, taking two pills, and swallowing them. He washes them down with some tea, no doubt cold by now. "So what's your angle, Aya?" He places the bottle back in the drawer, not bothering to look up at me.

"You've already read Ito and Honda's reports," I don't bother asking. "So you should have all the information you need."

"I have four reports from a team that shouldn't have been in Wave that each so completely contradicts the other that I know you've been working on their nerves. You know there's going to be another incident regarding this. And I'm once again going to have to out the flames. Isn't it fair that I know what I'm protecting you from?" So he can be taught to heel. Interesting.

"You'll find out tomorrow. Is my verbal report sufficient for today?"

"I know you have that report written. You always do. I know your bid for clan status. And knowing that you have Momochi Zabuza and his apprentice sealed and ready for processing in T&I tells me you are making a power play that will have even the most ambitious nervous about crossing you again. So why continue this cat and mouse game, when cooperating with me is more efficient for us both?" You play the game well, but you assume I'm playing the same game as you.

"Because I have OCD and need things done in a certain manner to cause myself the least amount of distress," I lie through my teeth.

"What if I offer you the paperwork here and now with preapproval of the rise of both the Namiki and Uzumaki clans?" he bargains. Hmm? Are we ahead of schedule? That's odd. It's only been ten minutes.

"Throw in the Yuki clan, and you have a deal." He sighs, shaking his head. He's only now coming to terms that he's being played—poor thing.

"Fine."

I grin, liking how this is going—for once. I unseal my prisoners' scroll, unsealing both Momochi and Yuki in quick succession. Momochi looks like he was chewed on by a back of rabid wolves, but Yuki is completely unscathed. She sees her lover, father figure—whatever the hell he is to her—slumping on two completely fucked legs. Though the bones have been healed, he hasn't gone through rehabilitation as yet, so he's still wobbly on his feet. So, of course, he runs to him, slinging his arm over her shoulder to support him any way she can.

"Momochi. Listen well, 'cause I'm not going to repeat a word of it. If you cooperate with our interrogators I can make you the following offer. That offer is a home for yourself, Yuki here, and Aomaru. This offer includes clan status for the Yukis, with you as clan head. And this offer includes allies in the Namiki clan, the Uzumaki clan, and if you play your cards right, the Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Sarutobi clans as well. You have two minutes to think it over. Your time starts now." He takes one look at Yuki, finding her without a scratch.

"That includes jounin status for me and chuunin for Haku?" He's adaptable, I'll give him that. I look to Hokage-dono.

"Pending a probationary period? That shouldn't be a problem," comes the most obvious answer ever.

"I want paperwork done to adopt Haku. Single parent or no, I don't give a damn."

"Once you are clan head, your clan genealogy and hierarchy is your concern. Her being your daughter needs only your own signature," Hokage-dono points out." It's only those outside your clan that would involve procedure and paperwork."

"Hmm…" he thinks about it some more. Thirty seconds. "What about my sword?"

"Hatake? I know your ass is here." Cue the most predictable blurring of an empty corner as Hatake comes into focus with the blade still in his grip. He isn't under orders. He's too damn amused with how I get things done. "Further demands?"

"A bed. And me sleeping for a month." Time's up. And look, Aya's solved a problem no one thought we had.

"Cooperate with us, and I'll have that and the house you need ready by the time you get out of processing." The only miscalculation I made is his adopting her. "Of course, that's if you're smart enough to not so much as look at my mate or pack the wrong way again."

"The first time was bad enough," he grumbles, looking away from me. "Genin my ass."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Momochi is hobbling along with Yuki supporting him. Yamanaka is leading the way, the most amused I've ever seen him. That leaves me with Hokage-dono, Nara-sama, Hatake, and one last thing to deal with.

I flit through the form, filling in all the names exactly as they were written on the form earlier today, offering it to Hokage-dono with a flourish. He doesn't even look at it, stamping it to make it official. "It's official. You're my new migraine. Congratulations, Namiki-sama," he drones, giving me a defeated look.

"Just that other thing now. Unless you want to explain the council why a genin is clan head?" He narrows his eyes at me, before rolling them up into his head and groaning. "If it helps, Hatake can make an official report on how I performed. And it'll be more than sufficient to give you the leeway you need. Not to mention my written report will include an already airtight plan to get the vultures off your back for that meeting you know is coming at two o'clock sharp."

"I'm afraid what tomorrow will bring," he grumbles, picking up the phone. "Hiromi-san. I need you to get me one flak jacket. Size extra small. Along with a promotion form with the data for Namiki Aya."

He hangs up, grabbing his pipe and a little bag. He methodically stuffs tobacco into the pipe, lighting it with an underpowered fire jutsu. "Very well, Jounin Hatake Kakashi. Your report on Genin Namiki Aya's performance during your mission in Wave. And include Genin Uzumaki Naruto."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

His eyes have been zoned in on Hatake for the last ten minutes. This is taking longer than I planned. What the fuck! I know I planned in enough room for fuck ups like that, but that didn't including Hitomi acting like my pregnant girlfriend with baby cravings.

"I see." There's a knock on the door, before the secretary strolls in with a flak jacket and a piece of paper already half filled in. She offers both to Hokage-dono, her eyes flicking to me as she strolls out. Oh, wait until you get the update from your clan, Honda-chan. You'll shit bricks.

"Let me see your report. If it contains half of what I think it does…" he trails off, seeing my patient smile. "You've shown chuunin level qualifications. You'll need to show me special jounin if you want that seat on the council."

I smirk, taking out my report and tossing it to him. He goes over everything. The facts, speculations, plans, preparations made. The usual shit, really. It's when he gets to the part under the heading 'keep this to yourself' that his eyes start to widen.

"I can't decide if I should promote you or clone you," he murmurs, setting my report aflame. While it burns, he's filling in the form for me. "I hereby promote you to the rank of Special Jounin. As clan head, you will be granted a seat on the general and shinobi councils. Also, I understand you wish to refuse all non-wartime missions. Granted, under the condition you take a team of genins and train them. They, too, will not have to adhere to the missions quota of Konoha shinobi." He tosses my my flak jacket.

"Then my team will consist of Iis Michiko and Zeito. And Namiki Eimi," I drone, per the script, as I unzip my new accessory and slip into it. "They will report to the Shinobi Academy tomorrow at oh-eight-hundred hours for official testing for the rank of Genin of Konoha. And I am already well aware of the probationary period of six months."

"I've already stated the missions quota will not have to be adhered to. Given you aren't taking missions, the probationary period is pro forma. Should we go to war in the next six months, I won't care if they're on probation or not." I smirk, liking how he's finally using that brain of his. "However, there is something I would like you to consider. Current position notwithstanding."

"Nn?" I noise, keeping my annoyance in check. This is the reason I don't like politicians. Always aiming to gain just a little more than offered.

"Continue your medical training. It would seem that Kakashi and Hitomi are already depending on you. I can imagine that list will only grow."

I smirk. Say that after your meeting with Hitomi in the morning. "Noted. If that is all?"

"Yes, dismissed."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 20_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Gee, I wonder what Aya is planning.  
_**


	21. Two moves

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 21 – Two moves**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Picture after picture, I study the homes on sale. All of them are in the Shinobi District, and quite a few are in my neighbourhood. Three are in my street, in fact. Two million Ryou a piece, which seems to be a set in stone, given they're all up for that price.

"This is the place," I murmur, pushing the door open and entering. There are two people here, both men in business suits whose eyes are on me and already seeing Ryou signs.

"Welcome, welcome," the senior of the pair greets us, his brown eyes smiling warmly. He looks to be in his sixties, balding with short, salt and pepper hair. "What can we do for you today?"

"I'm looking to buy. Shinobi District, Kanda Neighbourhood. I saw a few houses that caught my eye," I offer, leaving the amounts ambiguous.

"Of course, please, have a seat," the man offers. "Might I tempt you with some tea?"

"Not needed, just the portfolios on the houses." He bobs his head, turning to his junior associate. "Tell me, do you represent the buyers, or are the houses and their deeds already in your possession?"

"Hmm? That varies somewhat. Might I ask why you inquire?"

"Speed and efficiency. I can have the money ready by tomorrow, I'm hoping to have the deeds ready by then. Should I decide to purchase, of course."

"Of course," he agrees, his eyes twinkling. He knows he's getting a sale now. And given I said 'deeds', he's hoping for quite some purchases. "Oh, but where are my manners. I am Ito Tokutomi, and I am at your disposal, miss…?"

"Namiki Aya. With me are my clansmen," his eyes twinkle a little brighter with that word mentioned, "Michiko and Zeitou." The other man comes back with a stack of files, carefully plopping them onto the desk, before wandering off once again.

"Do you have a particular street in mind, Namiki-sama? Perhaps the same street as your compound?" He's quick.

"Yes. I noticed three on sale in my street. I would like to see those first." He nods, murmuring something about having expected as much while going through the pile. He takes out two… three… five files, laying them out for my perusal.

I take the first one, opening it to find pictures, blueprints, and an official report on the current state of the home—dated less than a month ago. It's not in pristine condition, but it looks liveable and cosy. I check the other four, finding two of them in desperate need of repairs.

"I assume these two are cheaper?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I offer him the two rundown homes. I recognize them, a little. I never paid too much attention to the other houses.

"Quite. Half the price, in fact, given they'll need to be torn down," he offers. I nod.

"Good. I'll take all five. When can I expect the paperwork and deeds?"

…

He's frozen. Even his breathing is stilled. I think he's trying to process what I just told him.

…

Is he still just sitting there?

…

He's still just sitting there.

"Ito. The signing, deeds, and payment. When?"

"W-well…" He shakes himself out of his stupor. "I could… have that ready… by the end of the week?"

"No sooner?"

"A-ah… not all of them. The owners would need to be informed."

"Which can you have ready sooner?"

"These two," he murmurs, pulling out the two dilapidated ones. "We can close those now, if you prefer?"

"Very well," I agree. He just sits there for a long moment. If he were a shinobi, he'd have tried the genjutsu-release, if his disbelief is any indication. "If you could draw up the papers? I'll have the payment ready for quarter to two?"

"A-ah." Wow. I'd better read through the papers thoroughly, he doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Seeing as we're behind schedule, I rush to the market and start buying the things I need. I buy three trolleys, and almost immediately start to fill them with foods of all kinds. Rice, meats, veggies, chocolates—that's a food group on its own—herbs and spices, fruits, the brown sugar Hitomi requested, the works. With everything purchased, I head to a takeout restaurant that should have the list of things Hitomi asked for. They're quick, so it doesn't take more than ten minutes.

To avoid 'oopsies', I head to the outfitter and buy an almost unhealthy amount of rations bars and bottles of water, and some fifteen futons with pillows and linens. I somehow doubt shit will be exactly as planned from here on out, so even though we end up carrying far more than I'm happy with, I'm more at ease with this being handled now.

I find myself cutting my thumb to enter my den at exactly twelve fifty-two, finally back on schedule. We enter, I close the gate, and—

"Namiki-sama?" I turn, finding an Op with a cat mask. "There's a council meeting within the hour."

"Two o'clock?" He shrugs, not disagreeing with me. "Thank you, I'll be there."

We enter the house, already finding companionable chaos surrounding us. Sakiko is running around after Naruto and Haruki. I can't identify the words she's using, but the gleeful cackling at least tells me she isn't planning on killing either of them… I hope.

"Saki! Lunch is here! I need you to call everyone to the family sitting room!" I announce, loud enough to get everyone's attention anyway. I sniff, trying to locate everyone—wondering if they would've heard me. They're mostly in the family sitting room as is. Curious, I head that way, finding Yasu, Satoko, and Kana by the kitchen door ready to take our trolleys from us—only after welcoming us home and asking how our morning was, of course.

I blink, unsure what to make of any of it.

When I enter the sitting room, I have all the answers I need. Hitomi and sensei already have everyone sitting to the table. Their hands smell of antibacterial soap, and their eyes are on the bags of food we brought with us. We're expected.

"I know Cat announced a council meeting," Hitomi begins, in lieu of a proper greeting. "Yoshino-san already picked out a nice outfit for you. It's on your bed. And yes, I was resting all morning. I even took a nap." She is sporting lines on her face, so I'm inclined to believe her.

"It's true, milady," Reika backs her up, an impish smile in her eyes. "I was quite surprised when I heard her snoring."

"I don't snore," Hitomi pouts. I smirk, knowing from experience that she does.

"Anyway." I set the bag of food on the table with another bag for chopsticks. "I brought yakisoba noodles, curry rice, plain rice, beef, chicken, and fish. Along with enough veggies to make a rabbit turn carnivore."

I let them figure out their food. Momma brought it home, but they can damn well serve themselves. No, Hitomi's the only one that needs help eating. So I plop onto the table in front of her, laying my knees to either side of her—like I'm sitting down seiza, but with the table stopping me. This way I won't trouble her arms in any way.

"I'll never understand what you like about squid and pancakes," I complain, already grabbing a pair of chopsticks and fishing out a piece of the okonomiyaki for her. She hooks her finger into the cloth of my mask, already pulling it down. I roll my eyes, not bothering to fight her. "A~aaaah!"

She opens her mouth, accepting my offering without a word of complaint. "Are your injuries acting up at all?"

She shakes her head, no, even as she looks about ready to cry from having her favourites ready and waiting for her. While she's chewing, I take out the box of okonomiyaki, the wrapped up rice ball, the box with breaded chicken, and a little something extra I got her—freshly steeped oolong tea in a wooden cup with a cover screwed onto it to keep the liquid where it belongs, still piping hot.

Sensei is busy helping serve everyone something, but I feel her gaze lingering on me now and again. Truth be told, everyone's gaze lingers on me. Not that I plan to understand it.

"Do you have time to explain what's going on?" sensei asks as she scoops up a helping for Reika.

"Not really. It's long and complicated. And I have to leave in half an hour at latest," I explain, bringing the rice ball to Hitomi so she can take a bite. "Oh, I have your grapefruit and red grapes in the kitchen. If you're still hungry, you can have that for dessert."

Instead of answering, she kissing my naked cheek, leaving a grain of rice as evidence. "You need to eat," she insists, grabbing the grain and eating it anyway.

"I will." She doesn't believe me, so she grabs a piece of chicken and bites it in half, offering me my share. I roll me eyes, but don't fight her. Though I really should point something out—for the thousandth time. "You shouldn't be using your arm, you know."

"And you shouldn't talk with your mouth full," she counters, working her tongue around the food in her mouth. She doesn't even cover her mouth as she speaks, too busy being amused. I roll my eyes, but don't comment. Someone enters the room—I turn, finding Satoko bringing in a plate with unseasoned, raw meats for Lady. She sets it down for my pup, sitting to the table herself and scooping up a modest helping.

By now, everyone is to the table, happily munching on the food I brought home. No one seems to mind me sitting on the table, or that I have my back to most of them, or that I'm wordlessly arguing with Hitomi to eat and stop worrying about whether I eat—she ignores my attempts and simply grabs her own pair of chopsticks to start feeding me.

"Has anyone demanded that Naruto be in the meeting?" I ask, grabbing Hitomi's chopsticks while she's thinking about that. She pouts, but doesn't fight me.

"Not ye—" The doorbell rings. I sniff, identifying the same Op from earlier. "Who could that be?"

I get up, moving carefully to not hurt Hitomi in any way, and walk to the sliding paper screen to open it. "Oi! Cat! Is this summons for Uzumaki Naruto?!" I call out.

"It is!" he calls back. I figured. They can't not pick on him, not if I'm climbing the ranks unimpeded.

"He'll be there!"

Heading back inside, I find Hitomi chewing on something—I know she would have swallowed by now, so she snuck something into her mouth. "You're the most stubborn woman alive," I grouse, knowing she really shouldn't be using her arm at all. She smiles, completely ignoring how right I am, and pats the table in front of her. The second my butt touches the table, she lays her arms in my lap, and points to the box with her squidy cabbage dough—what does she even like about that stuff?

"Congrats on your promotion, by the way," Hitomi murmurs, rubbing her nose on my cheek. Is she bored?

I feel her nose trailing along my jawline, her breath hot on my neck. "Mi-chan, behave."

"Don't wanna," she teases, kissing my neck. "More okonomiyaki?"

"Only if you behave." I can't be distracted with all the crap going on right now!

"But I'm hungry," she whines playfully. "Would you really let me starve just because I'm playful?"

"I swear, you've been hanging around Naruto too much." I roll my eyes, grabbing what she wants.

"We're not going to have enough bedrooms for everyone." Where did that even come from?

"Mi, focus," I chastise her, bringing my chopsticks to her mouth.

"Yoshino-san suggested you and I share a room." My face is suddenly aflame. And Hitomi biting her food off my chopsticks… seafood, entering her…

"N-nn." I really need to stop equating food and sexual innuendo.

"What are you thinking?" she inquires, her eyes half-lidded and a knowing smirk on her lips.

"That you're distracting me." I blush quite a bit deeper.

"Am I a cute distraction?" Gorgeous, but your ego is inflated enough as is.

 _Sigh_. "Are you bored?"

"More hoping I can get you to consider resting tomorrow so you can keep me entertained."

"I can't."

"How come?"

"I'll explain it tonight, oh curious one."

"Aya?"

"Nn?"

"Are you against sharing your bed with me?" I blush again. Again with the bed-talk and bedroom eyes. I know what you're doing, you know. Stop it.

"N-no. I'm trying to stick to a tight schedule. You can bug me after the council meeting." It's getting harder and harder not to gaze at her lips, not to study her cheeks as she chews, not to wonder what she's thinking every time she knits her brow.

"Aya?"

"Yes, Mi?" I can't even tell if I'm annoyed or too turned on to think straight. Her alternating between massaging my thigh and trailing her fingernails up and down my leg isn't helping much.

"You'll tell me everything tonight?" So that's your angle?

"Soon."

She leans in, her nose poking mine, her lips just not touching mine. "Please? You said you'd tell me."

"I will." I don't appreciate the manipulation, missy. Whether I enjoy the method or not.

She leans in further, murmuring into my ear, "Tonight, then?" Her hot breath does things to me. Good things. Bad things. Too many things.

"Soon."

"I'm not giving up on this," she insists, kissing my ear. She nibbles on my earlobe, obviously intent on fighting dirty.

"We'll talk about it later." I refuse to give an inch. This isn't something I can discuss, not yet. If no one knows my moves, no one can counter them. All they can do is guess where I am and where I'm going based on the moves already made. That's an advantage I'm not giving up.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Looking in the mirror, I find a professional woman looking back. A woman wearing dark grey business suit with a knee-length skirt, long sleeves, a white blouse, and one-inch Mary Janes that make me look both stylish and bookish—I think. I push my glasses higher up onto my nose, enjoying both the amusement in my eyes and the smirk I'll have to make disappear the second I leave this room. Not to mention my forehead protector still tied around my neck like a choker and the gloves revealing only my fingers. I even have my flak jacket sealed in my glove, so I'll have it as proof if someone does something stupid.

This is someone I don't mind being. A business woman, a doctor. And within a matter of hours, the most hunted bitch in this fucking village.

Sensei and Hitomi sit on my bed, neither uttering a word. Pursed lips and widened eyes are all they have to offer. For the best. I don't have time to coddle either of them. I've another five minutes before I'm meant to leave. I unseal my storage scroll, unsealing the bag with the money and start making quick calculations. I'll need two million Ryou, give or take. He'll already suspect I have a shitton of money, so nothing I do will change that. Still, I'd rather not give the impression I walk with all that money on my person at all times.

I count a single stack of two-thousand Ryou notes, finding it has a hundred in it. That's two-hundred-thousand. I take ten such stacks, finding I've barely put a dent into the bandits' money—I've half-emptied one envelope, and there are at least another fifteen envelopes I've not touched.

Nodding to myself, I zip the bag closed and seal it, then seal my scroll into my glove once again. I unseal the two stubs the gate guard gave me, putting them in my dresser drawer for safekeeping, then seal the stacks of cash into the now empty seal.

"I really wish you'd stop saying things like that," Hitomi complains. I just said we have enough food to last a few days. I was thinking aloud! "I don't like this idea… at all." You don't know my ideas, why not just admit that's what has you worried? Or did you see the collection of futons, and come to the conclusion I'm turning my den into a bomb shelter for a few days?

"You're injured. Even if I wasn't planning anything, I'd refuse to let you leave this house," I point out. She'd be no different with me, after all.

"That just makes me worry more." She looks away from me, not liking how I'm so obviously leaving anyway.

"Mom's coming with me," I remind her. Sensei wants to feel happy about me calling her that in private, but the worry all too evident in her eyes, in the tension in her shoulders, tells me 'happy' isn't a good descriptor of her current mental or emotional state. "Hatake's too emotionally involved to sit this out. And there isn't a doubt in my mind daddy suspects my next moves. So I'll be fine."

"That isn't the point!" she gripes. "I won't be there. I won't be able to protect you."

I should point out that if she takes a mission, she won't be here to protect me anyway. Perhaps I should remind her that there were years she wasn't there to protect me, and I survived just fine on my own. I won't—though both are arguably true, neither is fair to her.

"Don't… don't do this," she pleads, shaking her head as her eyes beg me to stay.

I turn to her, meeting her worries and concerns and insecurities with my rock fast determination. My eyes smile as I saunter over to her, the staccato of clicks somehow making me feel… powerful, in control. I like this feeling more than is healthy just now. The corner of my mouth curls up as I cup her cheek.

"It isn't the monsters lurking in the shadows that I fear. It's the monsters sleeping in my head," I soothe as best I can, hoping to kami-sama I'm not making this worse for her. "I'm tired of giving those monsters power over me. And whether you want to admit it or not, I know you're tired, too."

"Then why are you so amused?" she grumbles, muzzling my gloved hand. She isn't happy about this, I can tell. But I'm glad she isn't fighting me.

I furrow my brow as I think about that, my lips curling downwards. "Because that's exactly how I felt, every moment of every day you were out on a mission. I feel better knowing you feel the same," I explain, my face pinched as I shake off the useless emotions. "Trust that I'll come back to you, Mi-chan. Even if I have to trample over a thousand corpses to do it."

She… she looks comforted by that, but not mollified. Her eyes keep peering up at me, before she looks away. Something is bothering her. "Aya?"

"Nn?"

"Are you…" Her eyes still, before they close and a hot blush steals across her cheeks. "Were you serious?"

"About what?"

"Wanting to settle down? Start a family?" She looks up at me again, the crease between her eyebrows telling me she's worried about what my answer might be.

"That's third date talk. We haven't even been on our first," I tease, smirking. We're not even officially a thing, Hitomi! Make it official before you ask about whether I dream about weddings and babies.

"P-please… I need to know," she begs, tears welling up. I narrow my eyes in suspicion. The… soothing touch genjutsu? What did she see that…?

"I need to go, Mi-chan. But I promise we'll talk about this when I get back." She shakes her head, no. Still shaking her head. She wraps her arm around my middle, pulling me closer, holding me tight. This is… deeper than just what's going on. Much deeper.

It seems I'm not the only one tired of waking up alone.

"I'm a wolf, Mi-chan. If you continue to treat me right, you'll never have to worry if I'll be there in the morning." I comb my fingers through her hair, kissing her brow to let her know I'm here. That I'll always be here for her.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it to the realtor's for two fifty. We're cutting it close, but it can't be helped. I enter with Naruto and sensei hot on my heels. The man from earlier waves me over enthusiastically, welcoming me as he sets the papers on the desk for my perusal. I ignore him, flitting through the wording to make sure it's airtight and will ensure I am the sole proprietor of the lots I'm hoping to buy.

There's some fancy wording, some allusion to a homeowners' union, and a single line about 'adhering to the on duty shinobi during an emergency evacuation'. Pretty standard stuff, I guess. There's no mention of a monthly fee, only the land taxes to be paid by the first of January—there's also mention of consolidating multiple lots into a single compound, and a reference to where I can get more information on that.

All in all, not as fucked as I feared.

"Should I sign, what's the total for the two homes?" I ask, just to be sure.

"One-point-eight million Ryou, Namiki-sama. Please, look at the bill calculations," he suggests, grabbing a paper at the bottom of the second stack of papers and handing it to me. I go over it, but I don't have too much time to waste. Property costs, officially putting it on my name, land tax for the remainder of this year, consulting fee, and some bullshit three thousand Ryou fee for paperwork. Asshole.

"Very well," I murmur, signing every page on the dotted line and giving him both stacks. He signs as well, slaps them both with a dated stamp, and offers me my copy. I need a binder to keep official documents safe. Either way, I unseal the cash and offer him nine of the ten stacks. "That should be exactly one-point-eight million Ryou. Unfortunately, I'm due for a council meeting. Should I have miscalculated, please come see me."

"I will do so, Namiki-sama," he assures me, standing and bowing low to me. I bob my head, sealing the last stack of cash and the paperwork into my glove. "Please do not forget the deeds." He offers me two official-looking documents. Hmm. I unseal the cash and paperwork, add the deeds, and seal them away together.

"Thank you. Please do not forget I'm still interested in the other three. I look forward to our continued business."

"As do I."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We barely make it to the council chambers on time, but on time is still on time. Everyone's eyes fall on me, wondering why I'm here. I bite my lip, refusing to smirk. The room isn't any different than it has been. One long, sickle-like table where the Hokage's seat is the divider between Shinobi and Civilian Councils, and many comfortable chairs designed to cushion lazy asses.

Only this time, I notice the clan crests in front of each seat. I don't recognize most of them—not from either side—but I recognize the Hatake, Uchiha, Senju, and the four clans I'm allied with.

There's a wall of noise, a constant thrum of conversation as people mumble and murmur and discuss this or that. I don't pay them any mind, focusing on the smiling brunet coming our way.

"There you are, sweetie," Nara-sama announces, walking over to us. "Hokage-sama's secretary gave me this for you." He offers me a little cloth with the kanji for 'wolf' embroidered in. The backdrop is ivory and the kanji is crimson, just as all the other markers.

"Thank you, daddy," I coo, taking it and hugging him like there's no tomorrow.

"Don't thank me yet. There's still a lot to learn, you know," he teases, petting my hair gently to not muss it. "I take it you're here as her advisor?" He must be talking to sensei.

"Of course," sensei agrees, amusement in her tone. "Unless you think you need the backup?" He snorts, amused.

"Come on, then. Meeting's about to start," he urges. We walk together, and he shows me to the last seat of the Shinobi side—I'm lowest in the ranks here. That's fine—it's only temporary. I attach the cloth to the sticky part on the inwards facing side of the table, and take my seat where I now belong. Nara-sama kisses my crown, walking considerably further up the pecking order. He and the others take their seats about two-thirds up, with a mere six seats separating them from Hokage-dono—out of fourty-six.

"No, Naruto-kun. Advisors stand to the right. You stand to Aya's left. And don't speak, that's Aya-chan's job as your shadow guard," sensei explains in hushed whispers. I feel a gentle breeze as they move about behind me.

Hokage-dono walks in and the near constant chatter finally dies down. He takes his seat, his eyes taking in sensei and Naruto standing behind me. "Thank you all for coming. This meeting is officially opened. So we'll start with the most troubling situations. Haruno-sama, you called for an emergency meeting. Please explain why." Haruno Mebuki, matriarch of their clan. Interesting. I expected she'd take the subtle route and have her allies start shit—given she sits in the third lowest seat of the civilian side, it's safe to assume either she has no higher connections, or they won't help her in this.

"It's been brought to my attention, that Genin Namiki—"

"Special Jounin Namiki," I correct.

…

All brain functions in the room seem to have halted for a moment.

…

A lo~oooooong moment. Is it sad that only my allies are grinning like predators on the prowl?

"I am also head of the recently established Namiki clan. As such, I would ask that you refer to me as Namiki-sama," I press, doing my damnedest not to smirk at her. She blinks, her sandy brown hair sways as she turns to Hokage-dono—no doubt hoping for him to refute both claims. "You were about to ask for confirmation about my involvement in the Land of Wave. An on-going investigation into both a mission and intervention. Please, continue."

"A-ah. A-apologies, Namiki-sama. Yes, it was brought to my attention that she recruited both criminals and rogue shinobis. Brought a selection of them back to Konoha, if the rumours are true." She's so much like her daughter—easily unnerved, but headstrong and willing to soldier on regardless.

The murmuring starts up immediately.

"I would remind Haruno-sama that she refers to my clansmen. Those under both my protection, and the Naras'," I drone, laying my chin on my folded hands to show how interested I am in this conversation. "Lest you desire I start questioning either your standing in Konoha or that of your clansmen, I suggest you keep out of Namiki affairs."

"Actually," Hokage-dono's female advisor pipes up. Hmm? Is that Uchiha's connection revealing itself? "I am most interested in the tales I hear as well. I've read the reports. They are… lacking. Tell me, child. What exactly happened in Wave?"

"Would you prefer I call you an old ghoul?" I drawl. She bristles instantly. "Then don't call me a child."

"Why you—"

"Need I remind this council that I am the head of my clan? That is a position worthy of respect, correct?" She silently fumes, no doubt complaining about the youth of today, or some shit. She carries herself with an 'old money' air about her. Hairstyle that went out of fashion a hundred years ago. And given her current position, she's used to power. She'll be a pain in the ass. No doubt in my mind.

There's a knock at the door. I sniff, smirking when I identify Hatake. He's here to show off and pissed people off. How like him.

The door slides open. "Ah. It's already started? So sorry. There was this old l—"

"Sit down, Kakashi," Hokage-dono orders, sounding exasperated. Interestingly, Hatake takes his seat a mere three seats up from me. That's not right! The Hatake clan has been at least as affluent as the Inuzukas for generations! And they're in the top twenty! Hmm.

Well, not my problem.

"Where were we? Ah, Koharu-chan's inquiry into Aya-chan's involvement in Wave. Correct?"

"Yes," the old hag snaps. "Special Jounin Namiki. Report!"

"No," I drawl. "And continued disrespect will be mirrored, zombie-sama."

The vein in her forehead looks about ready to burst. She must have high blood pressure.

"Last I checked, Sarutobi Hiruzen was Hokage of our village. He has already received both my written and verbal reports. Both daddy and Hatake-sama can confirm this. My involvement is no one else's business. Accordingly, I may deny any inquiries as I please. Given your repeated disrespect, zombie-sama," I glance at her, meeting her angered gaze with apathy, "I please."

"Jounin Hatake!"

"I'm with her on this one. And please don't shout. Some of us still have working ear drums," Hatake drawls, mirroring my body language perfectly. He doesn't want to be here anymore than I do, but he's so fucking curious about the moves I'm making. It wouldn't surprise me if he followed me into the realtor's.

"Then I demand that Hyuuga Hitomi make her report before this council!" she barks at Hyuuga-sama. He doesn't react, seemingly thinking about that.

"Denied," I drone. All eyes are on me once again. "I will not permit my lover to leave the safety of my den at your whim." Though 'pin dropping silence' isn't a thing, it certainly is quiet enough for me to hear a few people gritting their teeth.

"Namiki-sama should best not presume overmuch with another's clansman," some overly proper shit on the civilian side butts in. He sits in his chair, his spine ramrod straight. I feel slouched in comparison. The asshole.

"When a shinobi is injured, it is at the bidding of said shinobi's doctor whether they are fit to report for active duty. Given I am both her lover _and_ her doctor, I believe you know what I am going to say to that." All eyes fall on Hyuuga-sama, no doubt waiting for him to weigh in on this. "Try your luck with Honda or Ito. They were there."

"I'd have to refuse on my clansman's behalf," someone announces. I assume either an Ito or a Honda.

"I concur. Their reports were given, written and verbal. Namiki-sama's point extends to them as well," another chimes in—either a Honda or an Ito… I'm assuming.

People are starting to get frustrated. I see the impotent anger in their eyes, smell the cortisol in the room—though I don't know what that's about.

"This is ridiculous!" some richly dressed man belts out, slamming his three-ringed hand on the table to accentuate his petulance. "Hokage-sama, are you really going to allow some **child** get away with this?!"

"And you are…?" I drawl, my gaze boring into him even though my every move is laconic and laidback.

"Seitou Nariakira, representative to the Seitou clan," he brags, puffing out his chest.

"Seitou. When you massacre a compound filled with enemy shinobi, I'll listen to your whining." Most shinobi present chuckle at the man's expense, but the civilians—with few exceptions—all look pasty at the notion. "Now, if we could move onto more productive topics? I'm a busy woman."

"Very well. Genin Uzumaki. I understand you've also brought back—"

"This avenue has already been tried and I've closed it. Pick a subject worth this council's time," I butt in. "And if you question that, you forget they were also signed in under Namiki and Nara protection."

There's an uncomfortable murmuring going back and forth. They hate how they can't get a leg up, and not even the others—

"Then I motion for Uchiha Sasuke to give his report!" Fucking hell! They're determined little cockroaches.

"If all this council desires is a report regarding myself or Genin Uzumaki Naruto, then I promise you I will be the reason you lose sleep at night," I drawl, enjoying the mindfuck that's going to be meted out.

"Are you threatening us?!" I snort, but don't answer the fuckwad. Strangely, Hokage-dono doesn't veto the crudely worded _request_ , so one of the Ops is sent to fetch Uchiha. Curiously, he comes back no more than five minutes later with Haruno as well. Both of them take one look at me and shiver.

"Genin Uchiha. This council needs your report on the events take took place in Wave," the old ghoul soothes. She's completely different with him, and there's a lining of loss in her eyes. She sees not the boy, but the clan he represents—the family he lost. She's his support from the shadows, and the one that spoils him at every turn.

"Kakashi was there. Namiki was there. Naruto was there. Ask them," he bellyaches.

"They've already given in their reports. As such, the council wishes a different perspective."

"I call bullshit," I bark, now officially starting to get pissed. I glare at the woman, daring her to contradict me. "I refused. Hatake-sama refused. I refused for Naruto. And the others refused for their clansmen. If you try something, don't base it on ambiguously worded lies, zombie-sama."

"I figured. If the old man needs my report, he can ask himself. Otherwise, I'll return to my training." He stands, waiting for a long moment. Nothing happens. He strolls right back out, muttering about wasting his time—I know the feeling.

And now, the weakest link. She takes one look at her mother, steals a peak at me, and nervously fingers the blades I gave her. Loyalty conflicts are a bitch, but she'll cave without fail.

"Genin Haruno. Report!" A conditioned reflex ingrained from the day we joined the academy. A reflex they'll continuously try to take advantage of, until you outgrow their petulance.

Not missing a beat, she starts explaining everything from their meeting the bridge builder, to the stupid brothers, to facing Momochi, to me storming in that night. She explains my scrolls and their seals, how I unsealed an army of shinobi and bandits, and how I almost single-handedly trained the lot of them. She explains everything, including that night and the dubious talk. She forgets nothing of it, not a single word.

I'm so busy enjoying the growing discomfort, both in Haruno and the council, that I don't know if I can hold in the evil cackle much longer.

She doesn't know much of the palace's infiltration, only that I'm reported to have done it solo, even with Hitomi and the Iis for backup. Then comes the battle on the bridge. She wasn't there, but Haruno explains how Hitomi came back with two broken arms, and Honda had both his severed. Then…

"I-it's… Momochi Zabuza's condition that worried me most. His arms and legs were visibly broken, both femurs had broken through skin. As were six of his ribs, and another four were bruised. Namiki-san was completely unscathed, but she was furious."

I listen with half an ear—I was there, I remember what happened—but mostly I pay attention to the widening eyes and lowering jaws.

Haruno continues, detailing how I tended to both Hatake and Hitomi, how I was the only one both trusted enough to allow for such a thing. Then: "As well, I'm fairly certain Hyuuga-san and Namiki-san are a couple. Namiki-san refused all contact between Hyuuga-san and anyone not of her group, and en route to Konoha she would feed Hyuuga-san at every meal. Adding half-lidded gazes, dilated pupils when they look at each other, and a growing sexual tension with their mealtime games, it wouldn't surprise me if they've… c-consummated." She blushes furiously, her eyes glued to her feet as she fidgets.

In other words, she remembered everything I wanted this council to know, and I made them work their ass off to get it.

"Thank you, Genin Haruno. That will be all," the old ghoul dismisses her with a lazy wave of the hand. Haruno glances at me once again. I smirk, knowing she's going to sleep horribly for a few nights. The fledgling clan's curse claims another victim—or are they victim to ' _pissed off Nara_ syndrome'.

"Is this council quite done bending to the whims of its most infantile members?" I drone, reining in my amusement just enough to keep my tone neutral. The amusement in my eyes isn't going away, though.

"Oi, Aya-chan," Hatake pipes up, sounding quite amused. "Aren't you going to mention that you convinced Zabuza to join Konoha?" There are more than a few gasps—shock, horror, their brains leaking out of their pie holes, it makes no difference to me.

"That's Yuki clan business. Not any business of mine," I drone, smirking.

"Oh? What about the rise of the Uzumaki clan?" he presses. Oh, he is just a treat.

"The Uzuamki clan is under Namiki protection until such a time they are strong enough to stand on their own," I drone. "Why, Hatake-sama, are you so interested?"

"Naruto-kun is my cute little student. I like keeping abreast to developing… _situations_ , is all," he claims, eye-smiling at me. I snort, seeing through the ruse. He figured out my approach, and he both approves and wishes to aid me. "Speaking of which. I would need a private meeting with you. To discuss his training and the like."

"That's fair. Is there any more posturing this council needs to resort to?"

"H-has… has Namiki-sama considered taking a team?" Seitou probes.

"This meeting has been wholly and solely about me. Is there a reason for this?" I intone, glaring at Seitou—all amusement is dead, leaving only annoyance. The sound of a few dozen dipshits shifting uncomfortably in their seats is simply divine to my ears. "I _suggest_ you do not make this mistake again."

"Agreed," Hokage-dono sounds quite amused himself. His eyes twinkle with an impish delight, no doubt thinking how he might actually enjoy these meetings from now on. "This meeting is adjourned."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Leaving the council chambers behind, and the conflicts the councilmembers need to work out, I shiver. There were quite a few of them giving me some seriously creepy looks when they thought no one would notice.

Most notably, I've seen some very… troubling signs. The Haruno were higher in the ranks before today's meeting—that's troubling, because a cornered rat will attack even a lion. The Seitou are cocky to the point of megalomania, they're no doubt going to be a problem. Zombie-sama is also turning into a grade-A pain in the ass. I'm willing to bet these were the three clans trying to claim me—their intentions are unimportant, only their actions matter.

And Shimura Danzou. He hadn't uttered a word the entire meeting. Only listening, always listening. Given only his name has ever been tossed around when it came to 'moves being made', I'm guessing he's my biggest problem. I'll need to figure out how to know for certain.

That leaves me with several problems, all of which I need confirmation to know much of anything. So that's going to be dealt with at dinner.

"Aburame," I turn to the man that must be my ex-classmate's father. His nose and shades point at me, but I smell no sign of him possessing eyes—no tears to lubricate and protect, among other things. He likely _sees_ via his allies.

There are a few lingering clans, mostly civilians. The only shinobi are a man that smells heavily of burnt coal and iron, Haruno, Hyuuga and his guard, Hatake, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Nara-sama, and sensei. I don't mind this group hearing what I have to say.

"Konoha isn't safe tonight," I murmur, knowing only shinobi will hear me. "It probably won't be for a week." He nods, leaving without a word.

Everyone's eyes study me. But I have neither the time nor the will. I turn to Hatake, mouthing: Uchiha. He nods, heading off. Whether he takes orders from me or not—I'd bet the Namiki bank accounts on 'not'—he knows I have a nose for trouble. And this entire village stinks of trouble.

"Mom. Where are the zombie sisters?" I ask her. Sensei frowns. I get the impression I'm not going to like this.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it to the hospital, to a low care unit where the nurses all greet us with a smile. They don't make stupid comments this time, but I see the 'I know you' looks all the same. Sensei leads us down a dead-end hall. I smell the sisters already.

Hmm. No blood, no cortisol, no antiseptics, no antibiotics, no wound care. They aren't that bad off, then.

"Keiko, Misato. Look who I brought with me?" sensei announces, opening the door without knocking. We enter, finding only the sisters in a room with six beds. Hmm. The eight other rooms in this hall are empty.

I scan them visually. Not pale. Their eyes focus on us quickly. They smile, so they recognize us. And they call our names without a hint of hesitation. There are no obvious wounds. They don't smell of poison or illness. And yet they are hooked up to IV drips with saline water? Even though they have cups of drinks on their trays?

They're both sitting down to a table near the window, having dragged their stick on wheels to not snag the IV and whatnot. They have books and novels and magazines to entertain them.

I smell generated income.

"No time," I drone. "Lay down." All eyes in the room are on me. Sensei looks worried. Naruto tenses to show he's ready for a fight, if it comes to that. And the sisters look profoundly uncomfortable in the situation.

Still, they get up and go to their beds. No dizziness with the sudden movement, no wobbling as they move. I go to Keiko first.

I cast the Mystic palm, seeing her eyes widen with shock as I scan her from head to toe. I thought so. Smoke lining her lungs—they haven't purged that yet, nor is she on a respirator. She carries no signs, but I'll bet she was injured enough to lose blood. She also has an iron deficiency, coupled with the already lowered oxygen absorption rate? Hmm. They want her to feel like staying is a good thing. After all, even minor exertion would induce anaemic symptoms.

Not wasting words, I go to Misato. I scan her as well, just as thoroughly. There are a few lingering signs of injury. I can tell her leg was broken, but the most she'd need at this point is rehabilitation—if she hasn't been going through that for weeks. She's healthy enough to have released a while ago, if she agreed to follow-up check-ups and weekly therapy.

"I thought so," I grumble, unsealing my scroll and my med bag. I take out some sterile cotton swabs, pulling out the needle in their arms, dropping them to the floor to dirty them. I then heal the injury with the Healing jutsu, just to be sure. "Let's go."

"A-Aya-chan, what's…?" Keiko trails off, having noticed my hard stare. She gulps almost painfully, but nods and starts gathering her things quickly. There isn't much, luckily. I send Naruto out into the hall so they can change in peace, while I'm busy sealing their things and my med bag into my scroll, then sealing that into my glove.

We leave.

"WHERE—"

I unseal my tetsubo, hefting it up onto my shoulder. "These two have just been discharged. I suggest this hospital look into their cases, because I **will** be filing malpractice. Good day." The portly nurse just stands there, as if a statue. The fun part, I could probably get away with it. But this is just more efficient to get these two out of here, stat.

Besides. Nothing wrong with them going over their cases and making sure they did nothing wrong. I know for a fact they fucked up, but they'll pin that on easy money. Unethical as fuck, though.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We barely make it to the main entrance before Keiko starts becoming short on breath, wobbling, with a light sheen of sweat. She looks pale, as well—anaemic symptoms, alright.

"Piggyback," I demand, offering her my back. I can't see her reaction, but she doesn't fight me. I unseal my tetsubo as she wraps her arms around my shoulders and tuck it under her butt for extra support as I heft her up onto my back. "Naruto, stay close to Misato. If anything goes down, make a Shadow Clone and have the clone carry her. Only distraction tactics, we're on a schedule."

"Nn," he noises, stepping closer to the brunette. All three Naras narrow their eyes at me, and suddenly sensei is studying every shadow we pass. Yeah, they understand I expect a war—it's part of the plan, after all.

Our journey isn't very long, twenty minutes, give or take. Yet tension is high, the air thick with anticipation. I feel Keiko's heart beating in her throat, fearing what might happen if we are attacked.

We make it onto my street—well, not mine yet, but soon will be—and there are six unfamiliar scents up ahead. They are exactly where we cannot avoid them. There'll be no getting around them, no tricks.

I sniff deep, wondering why they'd dare being so bold as to plan an ambush in broad daylight. I study their scents, comparing them to knowns. Not allied to my allies. No Op I'm used to, but certainly strong enough to be Ops. Two Water-users, one Earth, one fire, and the last smells heavily of Yang release—medic, more than likely. The trouble is, I don't see them, at all. And yet, I know they're halfway down the street.

Are they here for recon? Are they a forward party to start trouble? They haven't done a damn thing about their scents and, given how keenly I smell their chakra, they aren't suppressing that either. They want me to know they're there, that they're watching me. In fact, two of them happen to be on my land—the two homes I'd bought.

I study those scents most intensely of all. Seitous, the pair of them. So the shakedown begins. "Girls?"

"Y-yeah. I-I kn-know," Keiko mumbles into my ear. "Smells of Seitou clan. The other four are of the Imaizumi, the soldier clan of the Seitou. I nod, having the confirmation I need. Yamanaka will need to hear this—they are, in point of fact, trespassing. That's a punishable offence, and I know have at least one witness to corroborate my findings. I'll be sure to ask the Iis when we get inside as well.

We continue on, the scent of their adrenaline spiking the closer we get to them. I mould the chakra I need, keeping it herded in my voice box—one wrong move and I fucking slaughter all six of them.

There's barely five metres between us now. I can't see them, but I smell them so close together they could almost be hugging. Why would they smell like they'd group four jounins so close together?

Four metres. I feel my heart hammering in my throat. Just the thought of not being able to act before they do.

Three. Sakiko's face flashes through my mind. Reika's. Yasu's. Everyone. I refused to die here. I disperse the Calming Touch genjutsu from my vocal cords, and I focus Icy Heatstroke in my eyes instead. If they fuck with me, they die the cruellest way I can offer.

Two. Hitomi. If anything happens to me, it'd kill her.

One. I don't care what god I have to defy. I'm coming home, Mi-chan.

…

Nothing happens. They let us pass without incident. They let us reach my gate without incident.

"Aya," Michiko grumbles, scaring the **shit** out of me! I was so focused on those six that I didn't think to check if anyone or anything else. She opens the gate, wordlessly ordering us inside. I agree—for this one time, fuck the rules.

When the clank of iron hitting iron reaches me, I breathe a sigh of relief. That was fucking scary!

I look to Michiko, nodding my thanks to her. I motion everyone inside without a word.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sensei's spent the last hour in my bedroom, calling the others to update them—she deemed the office phone 'too public' for these calls. It turns out there's a privacy seal near the door that blocks out all sounds, but not all scents—personally I think that's a waste, seeing as good sex makes more scents than sounds, that those scents are traceable days later is also telling. Maybe I'm just weird about it. Or maybe I've never heard someone having sex—or not good sex. I don't know, and basing it on those ero-novels is pointless.

She also called the Inuzukas to warn them. I think she's now coming to terms with how utterly asinine the rest of the day is going to be. I also heard some rather intense words being shouted at a few Naras she called.

Somehow 'just do it, you lazy ass' doesn't sound as motivational to me as she thinks it should sound to them. Realistically, though, I can't imagine an entire clan being carbon copies of her husband or son. And why am I worried about how she addresses her clansmen? I have enough going on!

I still need to get out there. I need to do three things before I can call it a day. And those assholes are still out there. Yet, here I am, in my private cache, unsealing and emptying bag after bag without sorting through any of it—that's going to be an itch I can't scratch for hours!

Hitomi's glaring at me—she's been glaring at me for a while now—wordlessly ordering me to stop acting as if I'm leaving this house. Each time our eyes meet, I see the rational fears playing out in her mind—she no doubt identified each of the potential assailants, and has been listening to sensei's reports she's been doling out.

Gods, this is too much for one person to deal with.

The doorbell rings. I narrow my eyes as I sniff.

Hatake. Fucking. Kakashi. I grin.

Well. That solves that, now doesn't it.

"I'll be gone no more than twenty minutes. I'm taking Michiko and Zeitou with me. And I won't leave Kakashi's side. I promise," I announce. Neither of them looks impressed. No time. No time. It's five past three, that means I'm still well on schedule. _They_ shouldn't be dumb enough to do much of anything before I get back—and with everyone I need to safeguard already up to date?

I grab two tantos, closing my cache behind me as I seal my scrolls into my gloves again. I'm still wearing my suit, which isn't the best thing to fight in. They should know that, that I'm not out to fight. No ideal, but this will have to do.

"A-Aya, no… please no," Mi-chan begs. She comes to me, wraps her arm around me, and… fuck. I feel tears raining down on me. Stress is horrid for the healing process—she needs to rest her mind and body, or she faces dire repercussions. I can't… I won't do this to her, not if it will so clearly affect her injuries and/or her healing from them.

"You have everything you need… don't you?" she begs me to say yes, begs me to stay here where I'm safe, begs me to not go out into that harsh, cruel world before she's healed enough to protect me.

"Everything? No," I shake my head, "but I have enough to stay here tonight." She tenses, but I don't have time for this. Hatake brought guests, and they no doubt aren't taking well to our uninvited audience out in the street with them.

"S-so…" She pulls back from me, letting me see her fears—even the fear she's understanding this inaccurately.

"I still need to let them in, Mi-chan. It won't take me a minute."

"You're... not leaving?" I roll my eyes, groaning at her sudden inability to be a rational human being.

People waiting in bad company for no good reason, remember that? Can we please focus on that for a second?

"You can even come with me, if we go now."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Having _finally_ made it outside, I find Hatake, Uchiha, and two Harunos—mother and daughter. I smile, giving Hatake his only chance to word this right before shit hits the fan. Seeing as his eye is on Hitomi, who's right beside me, I know he understands just how… _unreasonable_ I can and will respond if he tries being a dick.

"Tell me the risks," he begins, his eye glued to my chest, "of Naruto's hunting pack being left out in the cold when people will already think you want them dead." Okay, that's below the belt!

Whoever's on the prowl would kill them and blame it on me, using that as a means to blame even more on me, given how I'm at the centre of all this bullshit.

 _Sigh_. "No. I will not invite death into my den. Take those two somewhere else."

"Namiki-sama, please reconsider!" the elder of the pair begs, drops to her knees. I snort. She wasn't this concerned when I lost my mother. Nor was she concerned when I continuously got in trouble for protecting Naruto.

I sniff, smelling a collection of Yamanakas coming down the road—guarded by the clan head himself, and three jounins I recognize. Maybe I can use this as the 'disclaimer' I need to make a point for those Seitous.

"Take a few healthy steps back, Haruno. The both of you. If I suspect anyone of entering my property, I will act accordingly," I warn them, glaring to show how serious I am. The younger doesn't hesitate, moving back to the other side of the street to give me wide berth, but the elder prostrates herself, her hands clapped together over her head. She thinks begging is a thing with wolves, does she?

I open my gate, stepping outside and peering down the street at the incoming blonds. Six women—five of which are visibly pregnant, three of which have a young child with them. The sole non-pregnant woman has three young children with her.

"You're early," I point out, sniffing to confirm each of them is a Yamanaka. Only one isn't, but she carries a toddler that smells both as her child and a Yamanaka. I nod, knowing all I need to.

The jounins form a perimeter around the group, with the head in the lead. His eyes beg for me to take them, though not a word passes his lips.

"Get inside," I order, motioning them in. I'm not too surprised when only the women and children enter, the four jounins bowing so low to me that I wonder if they know anything about Namikis.

"Everything they need is sealed," Inoichi assures me, offering three small scrolls. I accept them from him, bobbing my head in thanks. "Do you need someone to stand guard?"

"No. Are these the only non-combatants?"

"Yes," he assures me. "Please, niece. Guard them well." His eyes are hollow for some reason.

"I was expecting your wife and daughter," I murmur, raising an eyebrow to accentuate the unasked question. He breathes easier. "You're coming to dinner. I'll expect them as well. Does your clan have a medic to monitor them?"

"No," he shakes his head, his eyes shining with unspoken gratitude.

"Well, we'll come up with something. Are there any other genins or chuunins that you need kept safe?"

"M…" one of the jounins speaks up, but Inoichi glares at him.

"Your what?" I encourage the man to speak up again.

"My girlfriend, Namiki-sama. She's a chuunin, but not of our clan," he pleads.

"Name?"

"Sasakawa Tamaki. Non-clan. I begged Inoichi-sama, but…" Both men look troubled.

I shake my head no. If this were a serious relationship with a non-clan member, they should be married by now. "I don't—"

"She's pregnant," he cuts me off, his mute begging intensifying. There's also fear in his gaze. He has something in place for her, but he wants offer her the same protection as the others. "Please."

"Uncle. Bring her with you later." The man's eyes widen briefly, but he composes himself and nods. "And be sure the others understand the implications as well." He nods, awe and wonder lining his eyes.

Without another word, they bow and body flicker to see to whatever duties Hokage-dono gave them.

"Good. Now, Hatake. I reminded you about Uchiha to keep him safe, not to dump him or your other student on me," I round on him. "I have enough going on, so I am not taking on your responsibilities."

He turns to look up the street. I sniff, sensing the Naras coming this way. Six women, each pregnant. Each having a young child with them. Da… Nara-sama is with them, as are three other jounins, though none I recognize.

"Quite the crowd," Hatake indirectly accuses me of denying the three he needs guarded. I snort, shaking my head. The Naras arrive.

"Inside. Mom will sort you out," I order. The women nods as they pass me, a few of the pups with them wave and smile—I find a little smile on my face as well, fighting not to imagine my life with…

No. Aya, focus. There are enemies within reach of your allies.

"You mind if I help get them settled?" da… Nara-sama asks, worry flickering over his visage. He understands that I'm already going so drastically against my principles for his and the other clans, and he damn well knows I'm only doing it because of him and m… and sensei.

"Silly question." My eyes smile, just for him, to set him at ease. His lips curl upwards for a fraction of a second. "I'm going to need at least one Nara jounin inside with me. If mom doesn't have someone to yell at, I'm the next logical target."

All four Nara men chuckle, though they try not to make it too loud to tip sensei off.

"Ensui?" Nara-sama mumbles. One of the men nods, and they enter together. The remaining two bow to me before body flickering away.

I turn most of my attention to back to Hatake. "If there's nothing else?"

"Aya. Please," he begs. Why do people think begging a wolf will get them anything but bitten?

"They're your problem. Not mine," I drone, uncaring.

"Looking good, Aya-chan!" Ino gushes, her eyes smiling as I turn to her and her team. Not surprisingly, Team Eight is with them—when are Sarutobi and Yuuhi going to admit they're a thing?

I sniff. I grab the gate by the doorknob and shut it just as they're making their way towards me. Suddenly, they don't look so sure.

"I'd given specific instructions," I drone, sneering at Sarutobi. "Explain."

Sarutobi rubs the back of his neck, taking a long pull at his cigarette as he thinks of something. "Well, we figured you'd—"

"That's nice. And I'll be sure to _figure_ something next time I visit your compound." He and Yuuhi exchange a look, their eyes flicking to Hatake, who's much in the same straits. "You were to show up for dinner, you fuckwad. And put that damn cancer stick out. My den is crawling with pregnant women and young children."

He takes another long pull, before dropping the half-smoked cigarette and stepping on it to out it. "Now, Namiki, that—"

"I haven't asked for your opinion, Sarutobi. And I certainly am not interested in hearing it. Shikimaru, Ino, and Chouji can stay. The others can—"

The gate opens behind me. I turn, unsealing my tetsubo and glare holes into Hitomi. "Get your ass inside," I order, moving towards her and keeping myself between her and the threat.

"You said you weren't leaving, Aya," she complains, her arm wrapping around my shoulder and trying to pull me back into the safety of the den. I sniff, smelling trouble coming. Six unknowns, each jounin-smelling. Fuck!

"Get your ass inside," I order.

"I'm not going without you." Stubborn as ever.

Hatake moves towards the incoming group, pulling up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. The weight of the tantos I brought with me reminds me what I originally planned on doing.

"Hatake." I toss him one of the tantos. He catches it, his eyes never leaving the slowing group. With that I grab Ino's forearm and tug her to get her moving, quickly followed by Shika and Chouji. I make sure to grab Hyuuga as well—Naruto would be devastated if anything happened to her.

Aburame, however, I grab by the collar, pulling him dangerously close to me. "If I find one of your allies where they don't belong. I will burn your clan to the ground. Is that understood?"

He bobs his head, the scent of cortisol light but present.

 **CRACK!**

I turn, finding Sarutobi holding a now lifeless corpse by the neck with his left hand—their head hanging at an odd angle and their face frozen in fear. I didn't even sense that one coming. They aren't playing. The cornered rats are here, and they mean business.

"Inside. Now!" I bark out. I unseal my corpse scroll and seal the corpse away, unwilling to give them so much as a ghost of a chance for plausible deniability. I grab Uchiha, keeing his dumb ass in my grip as I drag his ass inside. Inuzuka and the two Harunos come in on their own power. "Hatake, I need you three inside. This isn't our fight."

"Agreed," Yuuhi mutters.

"No time," Hatake argues. "Get inside, close the gate."

"What's going on?" daddy asks, pushing Mi and I inside. He pulls the gate closed, his eyes ever on the incoming threat.

"We've heard reports of a security breach," one of the assholes announces. "We weren't aware that—"

"ENOUGH!" daddy bellows. I couldn't tear my gaze away from him if I tried. The way his every muscle tenses, how his gaze is sharp enough to cut through steel. This isn't just a man worthy of being Jounin Commander of Konoha, this is a man guarding all he holds dear. "I will warn you only once, Shimura. If you or your clan becomes a threat to my family," a sliver of killing intent slips through his control, along with a distinct snarl, "there won't be enough left to bury."

"Now, Na—"

"Leave. Now."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It takes almost an hour for things to calm down. Between Anbu coming to investigate, statements being taken both verbally and written, me flatly refusing to relinquish the corpse into Anbu cuostody, and sensei chewing out Hatake, Sarutobi, and Yuuhi for blatantly going against a clear and simple order… well, it's been a long hour.

Hatake makes a calm-down motion, sweating a little from how intense she is. "Now, Yo—"

"Did I say I was finished?!" sensei cuts him off again. "Shikaku told you to guard Sasuke and Sakura! That you were to keep them safe and out of the way! Not to drag them into us evacuating our most vulnerable clansmen!"

"How was I su—"

"You were supposed to follow orders!"

Yeah, they're still at it. And Hatake still doesn't seem to understand that sensei isn't going to listen to a word he has to say. I'm too busy glaring at the uninvited 'guests' I have lined up against my wall near the gate. Aburame, Uchiha, two Harunos, Inuzuka, and the shy Hyuuga.

"Come on, momma wolf. They'd never do anything to hurt us!" Naruto begs, standing between me and those that were never supposed to enter my den.

"I don't want to hear it, Uzumaki," I drone, glaring at Haruno for twitching.

…

Why is it suddenly so quiet? Why is sensei… is she crying?

"Baby?" she murmurs, slowly coming closer to me. She has her hands up, palm facing me. "Baby, what's wrong?"

What's wrong? What **isn't** fucking wrong?! My den is crawling with potential leaks, I have to keep these assholes here to keep them alive, and no one seems to listen to me when I say I need things done a certain way or the whole plan risks falling apart.

The crunch of pebbles under foot brings my attention back to Nara-san. I feel a twitch in my lip a fraction of a second before a growl jumps up from my throat. Nara stops dead in her tracks, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Aya, baby. I need you to talk to me. Tell me what's going on," she begs. She takes another step towards me, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as the growling intensifies. I feel my whole body tense, my hands flex as the urge to unseal my tetsubo becomes almost too much to withstand.

"Ino. Go upstairs. Call Hitomi. Shika, make sure no one comes any closer from your side," Nara continues in the same soothing tone. She doesn't—

A weight, warmth. A familiar scent.

I turn, finding Reika with her hand on my shoulder. Her eyes smile, not a hint of fear in her. "Michiko-nee says the coast is clear. And that Nara-sama has arrived at the Tower unscathed," she murmurs. I nod, the tension easing somewhat. Phase two starts in less than five minutes then. "Hitomi-sama is refusing to take her nap. She keeps complaining about wanting her grapes, but that you keep reminding her not to use her hand at all."

"Nn," I noise, turning back to sensei and the others. "Hatake. Get those three off my property. Yuuhi, please escort Aburame back to his clan."

"Baby?" sensei tries, cautious but hopeful as she takes another step towards me, then another. I glare at her, annoyed that she doesn't understand the situation, but she still cups my cheek with her hand as she squats down and hugs me. Brief though it is, I see into her. The slight tension telling me she fears I'll act out, but trusts me not to. She doesn't understand me at all.

"What about Kiba and Hinata?" she asks, pulling back a little, still squatting down to my seated height.

"Mi-chan mentioned wanting the heiress to stay, at least until her clan can come pick her up. And Inuzuka's sister should be here. They can leave together."

"So… the issue is Mebuki and Sakura?" I lean out of the way, glaring at Hatake to get his ass in gear.

Sensi eyes are on me, studying me, dissecting what little she thinks she knows—even as Hatake and Yuuhi motion for their students to get up. Sensei nods to herself, seemingly coming to a conclusion of some sort. She turns, facing the shit-for-brains still standing there and staring. "Mebuki, Sakura. I trust you two understand that what you saw and heard here is to be kept to yourselves?"

"Sh-she's…" the senior Haruno stutters, her eyes cloudy from whatever emotion assails her. She shakes it off, steel suddenly shining through her eyes as she straightens her spine and nods to herself. "You have my word, Yoshino." She bows low, before ushering her daughter to the gate to leave. Whatever.

I stand, dusting off my skirt just to be sure, and start moving to the kitchen to get Mi her precious grapes—that woman is becoming so fucking demanding. "Reika. Get the other Namikis. I need everyone in my room."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 21_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Took a bit longer, because I just wasn't sure how to handle a lot of these scenes. I know this makes it all look like the world revolves around Aya, and that it's seeming Mary Sue-ish. But this just is the right way to handle this chapter.  
_**


	22. Hitomi: What I wouldn't give

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 22 – Hitomi: What I wouldn't give**_

 _ **Hyuuga Hitomi Chapter**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"This day just won't fucking end," Aya complains, closing the door behind her. She rights her glasses, her eyes softening as she takes me in, as she breathes in her pack. All the Namikis are here, Reika having called them for some reason. Sakiko is taking a nap with her head on my thigh, as has been the case for the last twenty minutes.

Eimi, Atsu and Tsuji are over in one corner, sitting down together as the younger two tease Tsuji endlessly about his new boyfriend—his cheeks are aflame, but there's a goofy-happy grin on his face all the same.

Yasu, Satoko, and Kana are discussing something about dinner, and how they're going to convince all these people to work together so everyone can eat on time.

"Yo-Yoshino-sama seems a-able to o-organize ev-veryone. Perhaps w-we should a-ask her?" Satoko suggests, flushing as she rubs her earlobe—I assume to self-soothe, though it could be a nervous tick as well.

Michiko and Zeitou are in another corner talking to Inoichi-san's daughter—I forget her name. I'm still not sure what she's doing in here, but given Aya's not getting defensive, it's safe to assume the blonde is welcome.

"You're into girls, too?" Yamanaka-san asks Michiko, more curious than anything. The bluette nods, a smile in her eyes as if she's coming to terms with people truly accepting her as she is. The blonde's eyes flick towards Aya, bringing a smile to my lips. "So what do you think about Aya-chan?"

"That she and Hitomi-sama would flay me alive if I tried anything," Michiko announces, giving the blonde an incredulous look as if to ask what's wrong with her. Yamanaka-san furrows her brow, her eyes fixed on me for some reason. This seems to tip Michiko off. "You… didn't know that Hitomi-sama is Aya-sama's love interest."

Yamanaka-san shakes her head, no. "Well, now you know," Michiko shrugs, her eyes softening as she studies Aya. "Aya-sama only has eyes for Hitomi-sama, so it's not as if anyone else stands a chance."

I smile, turning my eyes back to Aya, finding her still standing there with a bowl of red grapes in hand. She fidgets, shifting her weight nervously. Her eyes are haunted again, her chest tight from barely being able to breathe. Barely back a day, and already it's back to this.

"Hey," I call to her, beckoning with my good hand. Her eyes find mine briefly, her lips pursed as her gaze drops to study my arm still in a sling and my bandaged hand waving her over. She's been needing little distractions more and more, slipping deeper and deeper into thought if I don't dredge her out.

Heaving a sigh, she saunters over to me, plopping down beside me and plucking a grape. She bites it in half, offering me my share. My half is just bigger than my thumb—she picked the biggest red grapes on sale.

"You're not okay," I murmur, eating the fruit out of her hand, the sweet juices flooding my mouth the moment I bite into it. She shakes her head, no. She sits to my left, out of my reach—a fact increasingly weighing on me. "Talk to me."

"He…" she begins, her eyes clouding over as she takes another grape and bites into it. 'He'? Shikaku-san? "He…"

"I read the orders Shikaku-san sent Kakashi-san," I murmur, hoping the subject will loosen her tongue. Her gaze doesn't leave the bowl, but her eyes grow cloudy, misty almost. "He was quite graphic with his description of Kakashi's fate, should anything happen to you."

She knits her brow, as if she's trying to puzzle something out and is outright failing at it. Is she starting to see Yoshino-san and Shikaku-san as her parents? I can't even imagine what that might do to her—forming a connection as potent as that, when she's still hurting from losing her parents.

There's a knock at the door, opening to reveal Yoshino-san herself. "Baby, the Akimichis and Sarutobis are here. I know you wanted to be the…" she trails off, studying Aya. She frowns, knitting her brow for a fraction of a second—she doesn't like what she sees. "I'm familiar with all of them. I can confirm their identities before letting them in?"

Aya sighs, her shoulders sagging as she resigns herself to the hand she's dealt. I nod, easing Sakiko's head off my lap to not wake her. "I'm coming with you."

"Agreed," all five shinobis of her clan murmur, making to stand.

"It's—"

"I'm not going to listen," I cut in, nudging her off the bed so I can stand as well. "You need to handle this. And I'm coming with you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it into the entrance, where a mountain of slippers and shinobi sandals are sorted as neatly as is possible, given there are almost thirty pairs. Aya slips into her sandals, seemingly not in the mood for heels, her eyes once again studying me. Her focus on me is so complete, that the others pile out into the front yard, leaving the front door open.

I can see Chouza-san at the gate, see the smile in his eyes as he greets Yoshino-san, and his belted laughter cannot escape my notice. Yet, the faraway look in Aya's eyes troubles me.

"This should be the last group, right?" I ask, wondering how to reach the elusive brunette. She nods, turning towards the gate without a word. "Aya?"

She just stands there, a living, breathing statue that has neither the stomach to turn back nor the drive to move forward.

How do I do this? How do I tell her I want her to myself? That I'm tired of sharing her with the world, that I want to be selfish for once and have her eyes be only for me, if only for a short spell. I've been using meals thus far, even though we both know she isn't required to help me. I'm not strong enough to damn it all to hell and take her out on a date. The den's going to be too crowded to hope for any alone time.

"I want you," I blurt out, wincing as the words register in my brain. O…kay! That certainly **ISN'T** the way to do it! "P-please… I'm… I'm sorry. I'm not used to this." I smooth my eyebrow with my finger, trying to sort through my thoughts to not say something _that_ stupid again.

"I… I wanted to take you out, but that isn't happening today. So I thought, maybe I can just…" Oh kami-sama, Hitomi! What are you doing?! Stop rambling, you idiot! "Look, I want to you myself for a bit. Please."

The whole time she stands there, unmoving. The urge to get out an apology overwhelms me, the need to try put it into the perfect words is but a step behind it. But what is the perfect way to say it?

"Please, Aya. I want to be with you. If only for a few hours," I beg, reaching out for her, but too afraid to take her into my arms beg her to be mine—to make me hers. That sounds cheesy. But it's true. "Please." Stop saying please!

I rub my brow, wondering for the millionth time what it is about that girl that screws with my brain so completely. I can barely think around her, and I find myself only thinking of her when she's out of my sight. How I continuously catch myself agonizing over the smallest detail regarding her.

I feel like I'm two clicks short of becoming a stalker—that **scares** me.

She turns to me—slowly—distressingly slowly. The first thing I notice is her cheeks. They're decidedly pink. Her eyes are half-lidded.

Breath stops. My heart throbs in my chest, like a stampeding herd of wild horses. My stomach is running laps in my gut, and my legs are as jelly.

I find her arms around me instantly, her head cushioned between my breasts. She feels… taller? "You okay?" she asks, sounding worried. My legs must have given out.

"Y-yeah. S-sorry. That… doesn't usually happen," I offer, shaking my head at the world's most pathetic reasoning.

She helps me back up onto my feet, and we head out into the yard to welcome our all…ies…? Hitomi, you aren't a Namiki. These aren't your allies. These are Aya's allies. Get your head out of the clouds and focus!

Aya opens the gate, ushering a group of six pregnant and larger than life women and eight skinny brunettes, most sporting engorged tummies—each of them has young children, most have more than one.

"Alright, ladies, into the house," Yoshino welcomes them, speaking just a little louder than usual so everyone can hear her. "We have the backyard set up for the children to run around, and fresh tea is ready for any who wants. Dinner is in three hours, but we have a few snacks already prepared in the kitchen for those interested."

It doesn't take much effort to guide the whole group through the entrance, where yet more slippers and shinobi sandals join the already impressive collection, but my focus is more on Aya.

"Auntie Remi," Aya addresses the Akimichi matriarch, "Chouji's already inside, and we fully expect auntie Mariko to join us later. Please, it would do your clansmen a world of good, should their matriarch be here to organize and guide them."

"I…" Remi-san, looks to her husband, her eyes wide with surprise—as are his. There's a lengthy discussion going on between them, without using a single sound. "I'd love to. Thank you, Aya-chan." Though she addresses my brunette, her gaze never wavers from her husband's. He comes to her, takes her into his arms as he murmurs something I can't make out right into her ear.

While that's going on, my eyes focus on a redheaded Sarutobi arguing with her nephew—he's trying all he can to get away from her, to run out into the street, and yelling something about 'his friends' that I can't seem to make sense of. I've seen Konohamaru on occasion, but he's never seemed this much a brat before.

"I don't want to hear it," Asami-san chastises him. "We're supposed to stay here. And both daddy and I warned you that you won't be allowed to bring your friends this time. Now, stop being a brat about it!"

"You're heartless, auntie!" Konohamaru accuses, tears in his eyes. He crosses his arms, looking away from her to hide the intensity of his emotions. She takes advantage, dragging him into ou… into the yard

"Momma wolf?" I turn, finding Naruto there. When did he come outside? Was he here the whole time? Or was Asami-san and her nephew's argument what drew him here? "Please?" His begging eyes are met with stoicism.

Aya stands there, thoughts racing through her eyes as they flicker from Konohamaru to Naruto, until at last she closes her eyes, her brow knitted, as though she weighs and measures the universe—that's the impression I get, at least.

"You understand the implications?" Aya asks Naruto, her eyes opening to study him. He bobs his head, his eyes fierce. "This isn't a game, Naruto. If you take them in, they will be associated with you. That means they inherit all Uzumaki and Namiki enemies. Do you understand and accept what that means?"

"I'm not abandoning them, Aya," Naruto insists, standing his ground. She stares him down, trying to impress just how serious the situation really is. He doesn't relent, nor does he shy away. He seems to accept the implications.

"Sarutobi," Aya addresses a random jounin from their clan, "you know the ones he refers to?" The man nods. "Find them, bring them here." Without a word, the man body flickers away.

"Naruto," Aya addresses her blond. "Those two will be **your** responsibility. Do you understand?"

"I won't letcha down, momma wolf!" he promises, beaming bright as the sun.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Mom? I need a favour," Aya calls out once we enter the family sitting room. There are more than a dozen pregnant women comparing notes with their pregnancies, sharing stories, talking about their children and their development. Yet the thrum of conversation abates, all eyes suddenly on Aya—nothing but smiles to be found, both on their lips and in their eyes.

"Sure, baby. How can I help?" Yoshino-san asks, coming to Aya. No one seems bothered that she leaves the group of Nara women she was just talking to.

"One of the Sarutobi is going to ring on in a bit to drop off Konohamaru's friends. Would you mind going with Naruto to let them in?"

"Of course, baby," she assures Aya, smiling brightly. She comes closer to… well, her daughter, I guess. Aya blushes, looking away to hide—regardless, I catch a glimpse of… _wanting_ in her eyes. Yoshino captures the younger brunette's chin with her index finger, gently tugging her attention to herself. When their eyes meet, "You are beautiful."

"Y-you picked it," Aya grumbles, turning her head away once again. I smile. She doesn't seem to notice that Yoshino-san refers to her, not her clothes.

"Hitomi did," Yoshino-san corrects, gently grabbing Aya's chin a second time to wordlessly ask her not to turn away. She's slower to turn to the elder brunette, but it's hard to miss the growing needs in her eyes. "Why don't you change into something more comfortable? And maybe take off your gloves? You won't need them, right?"

"A…" Aya looks away again, but towards me this time. She looks right at me, into me. "Alright, mom. Please keep an eye out for Inuzuka, and perhaps the Hyuugas as well. I don't want the Hyuugas entering, and if anyone comes with Inuzuka but her three hounds, discuss it with me before letting them in." Her tone is even through the explanation, yet her eyes shimmer a little more with each word.

This… this feels like so much more than asking for a favour.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she is starting to trust Yoshino-san. Not just a little, either. She's been nothing if not paranoid of people entering her home.

"That's fair," Yoshino-san agrees, a playful smile on her lips. "Your father said he'd try to come home earlier than planned. Should we make him wait outside anyway?"

"Mo~ooooom!" Aya complains, fixing her with an annoyed glare. "Please don't go teasing daddy like that."

"Alright, alright," Yoshino teases, holding her hands up in surrender and smiling a little brighter. She… she does that on purpose? "Go on. I'll see to things here."

Though Aya turns to me, shooing me towards the hallway, the soft smiles one everyone's face captivates me. Most barely know Aya, so I guess they are happy that Yoshino finally got the daughter she no doubt craved—given how effortlessly, how genuinely, she mothers Aya.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Aya drags me into her room, where she picks out some clean clothes—a pink skirt, maroon top, and a black bra and panty set, with the Konoha symbol on the front? She drags me into my room, ordering me to do the same.

I freeze.

Is she...? Are we...?

"Fine," she complains, picking out a clean training uniform for me, with a clean bra and panties to go with it. She grabs my hand, escorting me to the bathroom. She closes the door behind me, setting our clothes on a plank to keep them dry. She grabs two bowls, towels, and wash rags, dragging me over to the sitting stool.

She sets the bowls on the ground, setting the rags into them to keep them clean. The towels are set over to the side, to keep them dry.

The next thing I know, her skirt hits the floor. Soon followed by her jacket. She bends over, her blouse tugging upwards and revealing her toned backside. Her green panties stretching and hugging every inch of her...

I shouldn't be affected by this. Seeing a few pubic hairs sticking out shouldn't affect me. Seeing a perfect outline of... Why...?

She tosses the clothes into the hamper, giving me a sideway view of her unbuttoning her shirt. The shirt is tossed into the hamper as well, leaving...

I should be able to understand this. That she dragged me in here so we can wash up. That we're going to ba-ba-ba...

B-bathe together.

So why is her fiddling with and unhooking her bra doing so much more to me? I've bathed with other women, it never affected me like this.

And yet, when she wiggles out of her panties, what little brain functions still working, shut down entirely. Seeing the gentle tuft of pubic hairs as she turns to me...

My face is on fire, my cheeks ablaze. My eyes drink her in anyway. How she saunters over to me. How her hands reach out for me...?

No, for my pants.

She grabs my pants. She undoes the button and unzips in one go. She tugs, pulling down the offending article. Her fingers dive into the hips of my panties. She pulls those down as well. The scent of my arousal fills the room. Or is it just filling my senses? All I know, is that she just exposed me.

I'm too turned on to care, let alone to stop her.

I hear something. She must have spoken. She pushes me back, her arms wrapped around me. My bare bum touches the wooden stool. I'm sitting. She tugs my pants and panties in one go. They both get tossed into the hamper.

My arm is taken out of the sling, the sling itself tossed somewhere. My bandages are untied. She grabs my shirt by the hem, pulling it over my head. She's so careful. Gently tugging and pulling to cause me the least distress.

The last of my shirt is off. She wraps her arms around my middle, unhooking my bra. I kiss her. I didn't know she was close enough until I taste her lips. Even as she pulls my bra straps down over my arms. I don't care. I don't know what's going to happen now. Still don't care. She pulls back.

"Nn!" I complain, wrapping my good arm around her and pulling her back to me. Too hard. She crashes into me. I lose my balance, falling onto my back. The pain registers, but is quickly replaced by an all-consuming need to feel her. She's on top of me, her legs tucked around my hips. Her lips claim mine.

My arms snake around her shoulders. I loosen her French braid, combing my fingers through her hair.

To taste her. To feel her against my naked flesh. I'm already yours, Aya. I've always been yours.

Her hand caresses the side of my breast. Up and down. Slowly… oh so slow. Goosebumps cover every inch of me, my hairs standing on end as the electricity of her touch fries any hope of resistance.

"Mi… chan?" she murmurs between our interspersed kissing.

"Nn?" Please don't tell me anything other than spread my legs. My brain can't handle anything but that.

"Are… we… really…?"

Instead of answering her, I grab her hand and place it on my breast. My humble bust is cupped, covered by her slight hand, and massaged. Her free hand claims my other breast, sharing the love. She doesn't need any more encouragement, it seems.

I whimper, shivering at the electricity from how she flicks my nipple. She trails searing hot kisses down my jawline, down to my neck. Gentle nibbles punctuate each kiss. Her nose teasing me even more.

I close my eyes, moaning as I feel her. Not just her hungered suckling along my neckline. Not just how her hands trail up and down my chest, exploring every part of me.

I feel her pubic hairs trailing up and down my tummy—a jungle of fun I can't wait to explore—there's also a trail of warm moisture kissing my skin just below. She isn't merely aroused, she's drenched.

I gaze at her, unable to look away. Unable to think. Unable to care about anything else. She goes lower and lower. Straddling my leg, her wetness and warmth teasing my every sense as she leaves a streak of her desires down my leg.

She looks up, her glasses low on her nose and her irises well above the rim. She can't see me, but her lust and love are plain as day in her eyes. Her head dips down, her lips coming into contact in the valley between my breasts.

So erotic. So utterly, breathtakingly sexy.

"Nn!" I complain, feeling her biting and sucking on my breast. She wants to leave her mark on me.

She pulls back, sultry, bedroom eyes and a lustful gaze being her only response, before returning to that same spot—already reddening from her ministrations.

"Stop teasing me," comes my throaty demand. My hand slipping down my tummy to see to the needs she so obviously neglects.

"Ah!" She grabs my hand, moving it out of the way. "You know better."

"Please, Aya… you're driving me insane!" I beg, grinding my nether region against whatever part of her it can reach.

She pulls back again, a cocky grin taking over her face and lighting up her eyes. "Patience," she coos, her hand ghosting over my skin, trailing down—lower and lower. Passed my navel. Lower still.

My breath hitches when the tip of her finger trails along the edge of my bush. I spread my legs for her, showing her exactly what I need.

Her hand moves further south. Only to veer off course and hook around my leg. I grumble, glaring at her as she moves the stool I didn't even remember existed out of the way.

Ooh, making space to work. This I can approve of!

With her attention elsewhere, I pull out my leg from between her thighs. Her engorged nub rubs against my shin—a glancing touch—a shocked yelp reaches my ears. I know I didn't hurt her, and yet her whole body goes limp for a moment, dropping her full weight onto my leg.

A gasp as pleasure shoots through her like a bolt of lightning. A hot blush steals across her face and chest, her eyes glazed over with a sense of needing far more intense than a moment ago.

Her breathing is heavier now, as is mine. The thought of her, the sight of her, being pleasured by me—intentional or not—does things to me.

"We'd… we'd better s-stop," she murmurs. "I-Inuzuka's here."

"She'll wait," I insist, my hand slipping down my tummy once again. This time my fingers slip between my labia. I shiver and moan and moan again with each breath as I rub up and down my exposed sex. She rights her glasses, her eyes glued to my crotch as I finger myself into a stupor.

My hand is shoved out of the way, and before I realise what's happened her tongue lashes out. "AH!" My eyes pop open, finding Aya, without her glasses, between my thighs. Her nose rubs up and down my pubic patch as her tongue and lips tease ever-increasingly louder moans out of me.

Her hands spread my thighs even wider. I can't tell what she plans, what she wants. I don't care. She's too diligent in seeing to my needs for me to understand 'cares'.

"Is that what you like?" she asks. I groan in complaint, pulling her head back to my clit—the only answer she needs.

A sucking sound fills my world, as the most sensitive part of me is sucked into her warm and welcoming mouth. Even while in her mouth, I feel her tongue whipping up and down at a fevered pace. My hips buck upwards, pushing my every nook and cranny hard against her—her chin rubbing against the entrance.

I toss and turn and grab her hair and pull her harder against me. Louder and louder moans and whimpers erupt from me, reverberating off every surface. Something in the back of mind tells me something—something insightful. It isn't about the pleasure she brings me, so fuck it!

A sound. I crane my neck, looking at the source with half-lidded eyes. There she stands. Yoshino-san. Her mouth hangs open, her eyes wide with shock, and a hand still on the doorknob. Unaware, Aya continues eroding what decency is left in me, one needy lick at a time.

A lustful moan jumps up from me, my every breath sounding more and more high pitched. I tense, fearing the inevitable.

A finger circles my entrance. I find myself tip-toeing and pulling harder on her, needing to feel her more than ever.

I'm on the edge. My back arches. My whole body tenses. My mouth hangs open in a mute scream. My eyes lose focus. My chest stops heaving, frozen in place.

Her finger thrusting into me is the last straw—the sledgehammer that breaks the dam.

Every part of me trembles. Tensing and relaxing so hard, so fast, as if I'm an earthquake. My vision goes white.

For a moment.

A long, blissful moment.

Nothing else exists.

There is only this deluge of pleasure engulfing me.

My every nerve-ending sings of her praises.

A sound.

Raspy breathing, heavy and husky. My chest heaves, sucking in much needed oxygen. My vision comes into focus, finding Aya laying her head against my inner thigh, a teasing and satisfied smile in her eyes.

"N~nnnn," she noises, pride and amusement obvious in her tone. Her finger is pulled out of me. I whimper and shiver—everything down there feels hyper sensitive.

She licks her finger, noising appreciatively to show she likes the taste of it. My sex twitches, the thought of her enjoying what she did more as much or more than I did almost sending me over the edge again.

She crawls up my body, trailing feather light kisses as she goes. Her weight and warmth teases every part of me, my arms wrapping around her to show her how badly I need her close to me. She kisses me, my juices smothered all over her lips and cheeks and chin.

A moan of pleasure. One I find is coming from deep within me. If she keeps this up…?

She pulls back, propping herself up on her hands, with her warm, soaked—and dreadfully untended to—labia on my abdomen once again.

"We need to clean you up," she teases, grinning. "You look a hot mess." And happy with it. Fuck, where'd she learn to do that?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We make it downstairs, the sounds of a party going on greeting us. There's joking, and laughter, and little feet running around accompanied by squeals and even more laughter. Aya ushers me into her office, ordering me to sit on the couch. We're joined almost immediately by Hana, sporting a knowing grin.

"Well," Hana begins, closing the door behind her, "I've got to hand it to you. You're no one-minute girl." I flush, my eyes widening.

"C-can we… get my check-up done… please?" I beg, looking away from her. She chuckles, shaking her head in amusement.

"Let's see your hands, then," she demands, her grin all too obvious. Still, I offer my forearms up for inspection.

"Her left needs the most work," Aya supplies. Is everyone here grinning but me? "Her wrist especially. I'm not sure I put everything back together right."

My left forearm and wrist are bathed in hot chakra. I square my jaw, gritting my teeth to not make a sound as everything below the elbow is dipped in molten steel.

"Hmm. Not bad. You should pay more attention to inflammation, though. And you didn't check for infections, did you."

"Of course I did," Aya grouses, probably pouting as well. I'm too busy willing away the stars in my vision to check. "I've been scanning her every few hours since her injury."

"Good girl," Hana praises. "Well, let's have the other—"

Pain slams into me from all sides. If my left was bad, this is hell! What does she think she's doing?!

Forever passes.

Then it comes and goes again.

Finally—FINALLY—the pain subsides. I whimper, pitiful and pitiable.

"You're the most stubborn woman alive. You know that, don't you," Hana deadpans, shaking her head for a completely different reason. I look up at her, questions in my eyes—even as I'm trying to will away the pain. "You shouldn't be using that arm. For anything. In fact, I'm going to put both your arms in a cast just to be sure."

"But—"

"I don't want to hear it," Hana cuts me off. She unseals the gauze she needs, and a special liquid to harden it. She starts wrapping my left forearm first, still complaining as she goes. "Continuous use of your hands while your bones aren't healed is creating too much friction, and that is inflaming everything around the bone."

Aya's eyes harden, her jaw's squared. She glares at me, obviously twice as intent on keeping an eye on me. Hmm. Maybe I could tempt her to keep an eye on me. It would require her passing the baton to the Naras, but it would mean both of us get some rest and relaxation in. And having my own personal night nurse would **never** be a bad thing. "Fine. But—"

"No buts," Aya cuts in this time. "How long?"

"I dunno," Hana murmurs, thinking about it. "I can't be here to—"

"I'll take care of her. Just tell me what to do." The fire in her eyes, the steel in her spine shining through, her dogged determination to take care of me, no matter what it takes, even her tone of voice rubs me the right way. I become lightheaded, already feeling Aya tugging me to lay my head on her shoulder for support.

Being completely dependent on someone for an undetermined stretch is hell. Having Aya all for myself until Hana says otherwise, however…

I smile, breathing Aya in. "Fine. But you can't take care of me and handle everything else you have going on."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 22_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Sorry this took so long. But this is... a bit intense for me as a writer. I'm glad I did it, but jeez!  
_**

 ** _Anyway. The next few chapters are going to be parsing Hitomi as a character. Keep in mind, Yoshino and Shikaku are nothing if not observant, so they will most definitely be all over these latest developments._**


	23. Shikaku: Daddy's little girl

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 23 – Shikaku: Daddy's little girl**_

 _ **Nara Shikaku Chapter**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 _Sigh_. You'd think after being Jounin Commander for over ten years, people would get used to the notion that I know what I'm doing. You know what, it's too troublesome to go over those last three meetings. I just need to get home, have a few beers, and figure out a way to show Aya I'm trying to help her in any way I can.

 _Sigh_. Of all the troublesome brunettes I've dealt with, Yoshino and Aya seem to rank highest in stubbornness. Oh well, at least Inoichi and Chouza will be there tonight.

I trudge down the dead-end street, my hands in my pockets and my shoulders slouched. The leaves are already browning, though they aren't falling just yet. I wonder if this winter will be as tame as the last two have been, but there's really no point in worrying—if it is, there isn't a whole lot I can do about it.

I arrive at the gate, already knowing Yoshi-chan knows I'm coming. Unsurprisingly, she's already at the gate. There's something in her eyes, though. Something… different. A fire I haven't seen in a while.

"What'd Shikamaru do?" I ask, already knowing something happened, but not having any indication what—not yet. She blushes, looking away from me. Hmm? Not Shikamaru, then. It's Aya. Only what could make her blush like that? She's usually so level-headed—if a bit stern.

"Hito… she… they…" She can't form a coherent sentence. Interesting. That means she walked in on something she shouldn't have. I remember her complaining about much the same thing with Miwako—and if memory serves, Yoshi-chan's reaction wasn't any different than this—so it isn't hard figuring this out.

"I told you your curiosity would cost you," I tease, grinning. She starts sputtering incoherently, trying to defend what she did, or convince me that she's right to worry, or something like that. She had the same response when she decided Shikamaru wasn't showing enough interest in girls—poor kid, to have your mom walk in on you paging through a naughty magazine.

I still don't know how he found it, but that's beside the point.

"Come on, love. It's been a long enough day as is," I complain, but it's getting harder and harder to not laugh at how at a loss she is.

"Mom?" I look over Yoshi-chan's shoulder, finding Aya there. She's dressed quite casually, wearing a knee-length, pink skirt and a maroon top with those flimsy strap-thingies. I see her bra straps as well—black, which as Miwako once told me, is a sign she's still very much on the prowl. Atta girl, show your newfound love just who's in charge. "Are you teasing daddy?" The exasperated tone tells me this is something they'd discussed. Interesting. Just what did I miss?

Yoshi-chan is frozen in place. She isn't ready to face Aya after whatever she witnessed. "Hey, princess. You mind letting me in?" I ask, a smile peeking through, no matter how hard I fight it.

Without missing a beat, Aya dons her slippers and comes out into the yard, shaking her head in dismay. That just makes me smile even more.

"Let me guess," Aya begins, amusement twinkling in her eyes. "Mom saw something she shouldn't have."

Lightning quick, the gate is open and Yoshi-chan's in my arms, burying her face in my chest. My shoulders shiver, unable to hold in the laugh well enough.

"Good enough for any jury," Aya teases, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "If it helps, Mi-chan's in no state to take advantage. That was on me." I grin, a chuckle escaping—which earns me a swat from Yoshi-chan.

"Come on. Let's get inside," I suggest. Yoshi-chan doesn't seem ready to move. And Aya decides she wants in on the hug. Well. At least they aren't yelling. Things could be worse.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Having finally made it inside, I find a companionable chaos everywhere I go. Women from all four clans are everywhere, as are the scores of kids running around and squealing happily. I was never one for this kind of scene, but I find myself oddly at ease.

Even though these are trying times, I see nothing but smiles, I hear nothing but laughter. Children from all four clans are running in and out of every room. Future Ino-Shika-Cho teammates are already ganging up on other such teams. It's a microcosm of our history, played out right before my eyes.

No matter how often I see it, it still brings a smile to my face.

"Daddy?" Aya calls me, pulling my attention from one heart-warming scene to another. She stands with the women that followed her home, her clanswomen. They might be taller than her, older than her, but I see the admiration in their eyes, how they defer to their clan head, to their leader. I'm glad Yoshi-chan talked me into coming home a little early, this gives me the chance to deal with some… troublesome details straight away.

"What's up, princess?" I ask, curious that she doesn't just come out and say what she needs. She blushes, looking away from me. Is she… she isn't just saying the word. She isn't just going through the motions. She's starting to trust us.

I smile, my eyes softening as I move towards her. I capture her chin with my index finger, gently tugging to ask her to look at me.

Though she hesitates, when her eyes meet mine…

The subtle blush. The tears welling up. The wrinkle between her eyebrows. How her whole face shows how vulnerable she feels.

She looks so small, smaller even than her slight frame would suggest. So fragile. "What's the matter?" I ask, wanting nothing more than to make her troubles go away.

"I…" she looks away from me, trying to hide from me—trying to hide the yearning so plainly obvious in her eyes. "Can I… talk to you?"

"Just me? Or…?" She starts fiddling with the hem of her skirt, then smoothens the fabric as if to cover the evidence.

"N-no… I need mom and… Ensui…?" My eyes narrow in suspicion. She looks up at me. She meets my gaze, before look away once again. She's afraid. Whatever it is going on, it's too much for her.

"Shikaku?" Ensui stands in the doorway, having heard his name.

"Alright, Aya. Lead the way," I drawl.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

On entering Aya's office, the first thing that comes to mind is that this is a serious meeting. Only Hitomi is in here, but it's the scrolls strewn on the desk, the snacks on the coffee table and what looks like a bottle of sake and a saucer, the couch and two chairs are set up around it. It isn't until Aya closes the door behind her and casts a privacy jutsu that I realise that this… this is _the_ meeting.

Aya takes her place beside her lover. With a gentle tug, Hitomi's head is laid in her lap and Aya combs her fingers through the Hyuuga's hair as she motions for us to take our seats.

Yoshino sits in the swivel chair, leaving the cushioned office chair for me. A thousand things run through my mind at once—will she open up to us, how much, does she trust us as much as I suspect, what is she planning, how much will she reveal—but mostly, it's this one scroll sitting beside the bottle of sake that draws my attention.

I plop down, pouring myself a drink to try to relax. A meeting, while important, is no reason not to have a drink when offered.

"If you don't mind, I'll get straight to the point," Aya begins, petting Hitomi like a therapy dog. "Hitomi's being a complete ass. So I need to be here to keep her in line."

I chuckle, not quite having seen that coming. But it's when Hitomi looks downright indignant that Yoshi and I truly start to laugh. Poor thing.

"I am—"

"So I need you and mom to get us through phases three and four," Aya cuts her off, uninterested in debating what she sees as fact.

Phases three and four, huh.

"Alright," I agree, sipping my saucer empty and pouring myself another drink. "I'll need to know phases one and two, and pieces in play."

"Phase one is already done. It's getting the rumour mill in high gear to get Konoha talking about me, getting the Namiki clan registered, getting myself promoted, buying at least one piece of land to show I'm making moves, and doing some recon in the council chambers to figure out what you've been withholding. The only thing I was unable to do is scout the houses I bought to see if there is anything of note there, and to turn off the gas and turn on the water."

I narrow my eyes at her.

"You expect someone to burn them down."

"I do," she agrees. "Phase two is already underway. It's the immediate retaliation from the other players. They want me cowed, and nothing subtle is working. So they'll strike out covertly. Buying property is public record, so they'll know which I bought—and at least the Seito already show they know as much. That's why I agreed to housing the non-combatants. They will strike tonight without fail."

I go over the situation. What she says isn't impossible, though it's highly unlikely. Espe…

Especially with my position as Jounin Commander. Knowing this means I **must** act on it. That means she didn't want to tell me. She might have at dinner tonight, but…

"Alright. So what moves are you predicting?"

"I'll get to that in a second. First, I need you to consider my next three moves. First, is discussing with Inuzuka to house their non-combatants here as well, in exchange for her being here as a medic in case of an emergency. Second, is having Hokage-dono here for dinner. And third, is having slipped Hatake a note in the scarab I gave him, inviting him and Yuuhi to dinner as well."

She'd have the Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Sarutobi, Hatake, Inuzuka, and Uzumaki clan heads, along with Asuma's 'mysterious' love that he still pretends no one knows about. As well as making an overt move to show strong ties to the Inuzukas. Adding the Yuki clan that she singlehandedly founded here, and we're looking at a major political play.

Adding the Hyuuga heiress, the open ties to the Hyuuga clan via Hitomi, and…

"You expect Kakashi to bring his students. And Mebuki." She nods at my assessment. Showing kindness to someone she openly dislikes—she's going to use them as evidence she isn't strumming up a civil war.

But these moves are going to anger even the most level-headed on the council. It's no wonder she expects someone to burn her houses down—it's inevitable, given she's done nothing to set up security measures.

Only what does she want out of this? Two houses burned to the ground in a quiet neighbourhood, after everyone in this street sees nothing but action regarding the Namiki clan. She wants to buy every house on this street for cheap—and given the current goings-on, I don't doubt she'll get it.

"Hmm, not bad," I murmur. "So level with me. What are you aiming for?" She deflates instantly.

She pets Hitomi's hair again, mussing and smoothing it over and over again. She furrows her brow, deep in thought. "I… the…" She tries again and again, but the words won't come.

"It's alright, baby. Take your time," Yoshi-chan encourages her. I know my wife like no other. She is still freaking out about that scene, but she sees what I see: our daughter needs our support now more than ever.

Aya's eyes linger on Hitomi's jawline as her finger traces along it, down to her chin. Hitomi looks up at her, questions racing through her pale eyes.

Aya isn't used to having to discuss her plans. Just like Yoshi-chan said, she's too used to taking on the world solo. Yet she's here, being semi-open with us for the first time. And all her eyes care to see is Hitomi.

I smile, understanding all too well the power a woman can claim over your heart.

"I…" Aya begins, flushing as she and Hitomi gaze into each other's eyes for a long moment. She sighs dreamily, her eyes seem to swim in the pictures filling her retina. "I have four remaining goals." Colour drains from my face, taking all feeling with it.

"The first you've already figured out. Buying the houses on this street. The second, is going through the deeds I… _procured_ from Gato and putting them in my name. The third, is giving Shimura and the rest of Konoha something to fear. And last, is using the notoriety I've gained to get Hyuuga Hiashi to sit down with me to negotiate Hitomi's freedom."

Th… that's four… She's…

She's being open with us.

I turn to Yoshi-chan, finding her eyes wide and teary.

"How can we help?" Yoshi asks, the steel in her spine shining through, even as I wipe away her tears. She sees it, too. That Hitomi really is the best way to get past Aya's defences. Though… won't the others be equally treasured in this?

I turn back to Aya, wondering at how lost—how small and fragile—she looks. For a moment, I see the little girl sitting in the windowsill near the door, peering out into the world and eagerly awaiting Miwako and Hitomi to come home to her.

"Hitomi needs me here…" Aya trails off, a wistful air about her. "The others need me as well, but there's just so much to handle…"

"We're here for you, sweetie," I assure her.

"Nn," Ensui jumps in. " _The clan_ is here for you. Troublesome as it is."

A smile tugs at Aya's lips, tears welling up in her eyes. She nods to the scroll, wordlessly asking me to read it. Curious, I take the scroll and unfurl a section of it. Yoshi-chan scoots up beside me, reading over my shoulder.

Phase one. Goals, background information, and suspicions based on that information. She didn't mention having bought so many futons or rations bars or bottles of water. She didn't mention having planned the discussion with Hokage-sama this morning, or having prepared for the Yuki clan because of Aomaru. She didn't mention her plans to help the Uzumaki set up their own home.

And she certainly didn't mention business plans she's been considering.

It's all here. Everything from a shinobi rehabilitation centre for trauma patients, to a crèche for shinobis' children—though she carefully points out that only allied clans and families would be admitted. She even has ideas about buying apartments and renting them out for a steady income.

I'm especially curious about the farms she claims to have the deeds to, Inoichi and Chouza have been trying to get their hands on farmland for years.

Looking to my wife, I find her every bit at a loss as I am.

I shake my head, trying to clear the cobwebs. Then I focus on phase three specifically.

 _Goals. Start investigation into the arsonist(s). Attend meeting with Hokage, act surprised when Shimura shows up. Insinuate Shimura's involvement, then threaten retaliation against all perpetrators of violence against Namiki and/or Uzumaki clans._

I smile, seeing 'and/or Yuki' written above the sentence, with an arrow pointing down between 'Uzumaki' and 'clans'. They're an afterthought, but still a thought.

 _Hitomi's meeting with Hokage. Act surprised when Hyuuga Hiashi shows up. Hitomi's condition is not to be disclosed, patient confidentiality clause. Hyuuga will demand meeting in den. Deny on grounds there is no standing alliance between Hyuuga and Namiki clans. Don't smile when Hokage grabs painkillers—subtle reminder about adding 'Namiki' to bottle._

I shake my head—she actually planned for that as well. I didn't even know Hokage-sama wrote her name on that bottle. Usually he reserves that for Yoshino.

 _Phase four (clean up). Goals. Bring Eimi, Michiko, and Zeitou to academy for official testing and ranking. Bring all Namikis shopping for uniforms and gear. Ask mom about clothing, furniture, organising den. Get Yasu and mom talking._

 _Meeting with Namiki clan. Discuss training. Discuss interest in medical training?_

 _Meeting with Hyuuga Hiashi. Location suggestions: restaurant, Hokage's office, ask daddy for better location._

I smile. Even reading her calling me that does things to me. And that she underlined that, says more than anything else.

 _Hyuuga clan needs heiress to grow confident. Trade Hitomi's freedom for heiress's training? Potential alliance. Desirable?_

 _Personal training. Sound release. Elemental—discuss with mom. Medical—discuss with Inuzuka._

This isn't her report scroll that Hokage-sama requests. These are her original notes. I look a little further, finding the heading, **CONFIDENTIAL**!

It details the meetings with the Mitsuzaka-dono. How she plans to prove his nephew's guilt—financial records, Tazuna's testimony, Kakashi's involvement, Zabuza's involvement… there's a side note about playing up Tazuna's involvement in peaceful protest against the tyrant. She plans to present the bridge builder as a replacement the people will respect.

There's another side note: _get Shimura into this meeting, needs to see Namiki clan as connected to daimyo_.

I shake my head and smile, amused not just with the planning, but how plausible all of this really is.

"Alright, baby," I murmur, rolling the scroll and placing it on the table. I pour myself another drink, raising the saucer in silent tribute to the little strategist before me. "I'll handle the political side. Your mom can handle things around here. And Ensui can run the errands you need done. Please don't go out without him. He'll keep you safe."

"You're not going anywhere without me," Hitomi demands, her eyes begging Aya not to fight her on this. Two brunettes, both equally stubborn about protecting the other. I sip my saucer empty, my eyes closed. I know how this will play out. Aya knows Hitomi needs to rest, Hitomi knows Aya won't take her anywhere dangerous. That means Ensui's getting dragged into this, but he won't mind—his better half, his two year old, Keiko, and Misato are in the other room, after all.

"I know, Mi-chan," Aya murmurs, a smile tugging at her lips. Her finger taps against Hitomi's nose, gentle enough to not hurt her, but strong enough to bend her nose all the same. "Ensui, I'm sorry to drag you into this, but," she looks up at my cousin, her gaze gentle, "I'll need you for the next few days to get things done."

Ensui snorts, probably shaking his head in amusement. "You guard my wife and daughters," is all he says. I smile, knowing he means that he'd dance on the sun if she needs him to. "Just tell me what you need done, and I'll talk to my team."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Hey, doc?" Hitomi calls to Hana. I shake my head, but don't get involved. Instead, sit to the table in the family sitting room. I have enough to think about, enough I need to figure out. And with my baby girl finally opening up to me and Yoshi, there's no way in hell I'm going to let her down.

I'm going to need to talk to Inoichi and Chouza. They'll have my back in this without fail. And I really need to talk to Yoshino about certain things—she's handling it well, but I can see the worry below the surface. So much going on.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 23_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: A bit short, but it was hard trying to balance this just right. And I'm still not sure I did it justice TT_TT  
_**

 ** _Anyway. Getting between Shikaku's ears isn't the easiest thing for me, but writing this chapter from Yoshino's PoV wouldn't have done much of anything, seeing how at war she is with herself and the situation._**

 ** _So, with the torch passed onto Shikaku, let's get back to the real interesting story: Hitomi and Aya ^_^_**


	24. One move

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 24 – One move**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I… I don't know what to think right now, what to feel.

I worked so hard to plan this just right, fought so hard to execute everything down to the finest detail. And now… now I need to hand it all over to someone else. What should I feel about that? Grateful that d… that Nara-sama is willing to help me? Pissed that Mi-chan is being such a baby and can't stand me being out of her sight? Worried that m… that sensei keeps glaring at Mi-chan, scared, worried, and concerned about what all is going on?

Why won't this day just fucking end?!

And yet, lying here, in my bed, with Mi-chan snoring on my tummy… seeing how at peace she is… knowing she fell asleep quickly listening to the music within me…

I…

I shake my head, trying to will away… whatever has me like this.

…

It doesn't help.

At all.

How twisted fate is. That all I've ever wanted was to be a homemaker, yet all I'm good at is stirring up trouble and killing people.

And then I go and fall for an Anbu Operative. Find myself wanting the head of another clan, craving for his attention like some little school girl meeting her father for the first time…

Would…

Would it be so bad to want that again…? To want to be daddy's little girl? To want to keep this house a home, to have a warm meal on the table when Mi-chan comes home…?

But if I want that… why did I train so fucking hard? Why did I spend more than half my life guarding a boy everyone wanted to disappear… to die in some dark alley… unknown, uncared for… unloved…

My finger ghosts over Hitomi's face, corralling a stray hair out of her face and hooking it behind her ear. Her nose twitches, as if she's somehow aware of my action. She smiles, a pleased moan erupting from within her, before her face smoothens again. Fast asleep, no doubt having judged she's safe as she'll ever likely be.

"There are… colours of… of chakra… most won't… sense the diff…er…ence…" Reika's droning draws my attention to the far corner of the room. She and Sakiko are once again taking turns reading. Once again from Introduction to Chakra, only this time Tsuji, Atsu, Kana, and Satoko are with them as well. Eimi monitors them as they meditate, trying to calm their chakra so it'll be easier to control it later, when I start teaching them their first chakra control exercise.

We've only arrived from Wave today. They're tired from the journey, but I cannot allow them to rest, not yet. They have so much ground to cover—they're motivated to get it done quickly, though.

So why don't I feel at ease?

Maybe it's seeing how, even in the village that should protect them, they aren't safe. Maybe it's seeing how even well-established clans are at risk of slaughter, even in the safety of their homes.

Politics seems like a war. One that is fought even in the most peaceful of times. One that can claim lives, simply because someone misspeaks at the wrong moment. So why can't I walk away?

I should.

I should walk away; leave the world figure itself out. After all, I'm nobody. I'm just another face in the crowd. I'm just another gift some rich fuck would offer to ensure the masses can be the ignorant little shits they pride themselves on being.

Fact is, Aya. You aren't a housewife. You're a kunoichi. You are the kunai meant to rip through the enemy's chest and pierce their heart. You're the poison poured into their drink. You are a murderer of the highest calibre. You're the monster that goes bump in the night. And this is the path you chose, that day you wrapped your stupid fucking forehead protector around your throat like a noose.

A noose that chokes you a little more each… and every… damned day of your miserable life…

This is your reward…

For surviving when everything you love died…

Live with it.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I open the gate, keeping my face neutral as Hatake and his two students enter. They're the last to arrive—how like Hatake—so the meeting with a meal won't be far behind.

I usher them into my den, not sparing them a glance, before guiding them into the family sitting room. Sensei sent out Ensui to buy a few long, low tables. So everyone is seated.

Everyone present—from the Nara clan, the Akimichi clan, the Yamanaka clan, the Sarutobi clan, the Inuzuka clan, the Namiki clan, the Uzumaki clan, and now the Hatake, Haruno, and Uchiha clans as well—seems at peace. I should feel proud that I could get these clans together, that I could ally myself with them…

All I feel is annoyed, and irritable.

I take my seat with my clan… my pack… my family. Sitting on the table in front of Mi-chan, finding a warm smile in her eyes as she lays her injured arms in my lap and leans in to kiss my neck.

"Thank you all for coming," da… N-Nara-sama greets them. "Let's dig in."

I grab a pair of chopsticks, spying the plate and bowl Satoko placed nearby for us. Lady whimpers beside me, an annoyed moan telling me she's tired of my ignoring her. Grabbing a piece of sautéed beef with one hand, I pet Lady with the other.

She whines again, nibbling on my finger to tell me something more. I bring the beef to Mi-chan's mouth, looking to my pup. She tilts her head to one side, whimpering again. She's worried about me. Worried about how distant I am.

"I'm alright, Lady," I assure her. She licks my fingers, telling me wordlessly that she doesn't buy it.

"No. You're not," Mi murmurs in my ear. She must have already swallowed. I turn to—

"Talk to me," Mi demands. My eyes sweep over the crowd in my sitting room before I meet her gaze. "…" She just sits there, her mouth working to say something, but the words don't come. Worry lines her eyes.

"I'm fine, Mi." Her head shivers right to left. She doesn't believe me—not that I blame her. I smile, trying to set her at ease, but the worry only intensifies. "You need to eat." I grab some rice, bringing it to my mouth to blow on it for her. The steam billows with my steady, gentle breath, before I guide it to her mouth.

She takes it, leaning in and kissing the apple-sized burn on my forearm. "Why are you using your right?" she asks. I shrug, not sure what to say. I'm right-handed, so why—

"Your mother was left-handed. And you do most everything with your left hand, unless you think about it," she says, gazing up at me again.

I grab some more beef, for me this time. As I bite into it, I go over what trainings I'm going to—

"Please don't do that," Mi begs, wrapping her arm-casts around my middle and pulling me down into her lap. I feel a slight breeze in all the wrong places, telling me that my skirt just played peek-a-boo, so I smooth it and sit on the extra fabric to make sure I'm not exposed.

"I'm not going anywhere, Aya," Mi whispers, running her nose along my jawline. I turn to grab her a bit of meat, unwilling to consider those famous last words. Words I've heard too often. _I'm not going anywhere_. That ranks up there with _I'll be right back_ , and _you won't even get a chance to miss me_.

I sniff, wondering when the fires will start…

That's… new…

"Uncle Inoichi. I thought I told you not to station anyone outside," I accuse, turning to the blond. He jerks back, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. He didn't. But that's a Yamanaka I smell. Mid to late teens. Jounin level.

I sniff again. Earth release primary. Suppressing his chakra. He smells of cool, stale air. He spends a lot of time underground.

"I don't smell anyone," Inuzuka announces, and all of her clansmen agree. I turn to Michiko and Zeitou, finding their eyes glowing crimson.

They look to me, narrowing their eyes slightly before a subtle nod. So it begins.

I nod to show I understand, grabbing some lettuce for Mi. I bring it to her mouth, finding her Byakugan activated. She opens her mouth, not fighting me in the least.

"Yamanaka Fuu," she mouths to me before I bring the chopsticks to her lips. I nod, having figured as much. Shimura makes his move. Only, is his goal to cow me, or guard me?

"Michiko. Zeitou. One minute switch-off," I order, not looking to them. "Mi takes third watch. Be stingy with your chakra. It'll be a long night."

Hyuuga gasps, drawing my attention to her. The veins around her wide eyes bulged—she sees what Mi sees. "Save your chakra, Hyuuga," I order, shaking my head.

I sniff again. Six scents just entered the street. Neighbours I've never interacted with, Chuunins from the scent.

I bring another piece of beef to Mi. She wraps her lips around my chopsticks, her nose pointing at me. "You need to eat," she murmurs. I roll my eyes, taking a piece of beef for myself.

"Mommy. What's that smell?" I hear the fear, but the little girl's mother is quick to tell her that no one here will let anything happen to her. I sniff again, smelling kerosene and burning wood. Either Shimura's people set the fire, or my neighbours are dumb fucks.

"Mi?" She nods, opening her mouth for some more food. I shake my head, bringing some rice for her.

The day that just wouldn't fucking end. Oh joy.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The first ray of light enters my bedroom at last. Mi snores, having succumbed to fatigue an hour ago. I sniff, smelling the last two houses still smouldering in the distance—far more muted than it has been all night. Zeitou and Michiko haven't slept a wink, nor have Eimi and I. Eimi's been writing down the Iis findings, time-stamping each entry for the report Hokage-dono will no doubt demand.

Interestingly, Sakiko and Reika are snoring to either side of me, neither having noticed much of anything all night—trusting me enough to know they're safe.

I sniff, finding that the three Anbu teams have finally left the area, their scents still lingering to show they've been here for hours trying to mitigate the damage. What a mess this will be. Those fires were outed no less than five times, only to rage on within minutes of the Anbu left.

Curiously… the reignited flames coincide with Seitous' scents, with Shimura's team's scents, and with a third group… one I've had no dealings with, so I haven't identified them. Those people wanted my property burning through the night, and they made damn sure they got it.

The doorbell rings. Cat is back, no doubt to announce an emergency council meeting. Daddy's the one to go to the gate, but I can't hear what gets said.

"Council meeting. Within the hour," Zeitou announces. "Will you be attending?" I nod, not liking the idea of leaving Mi out of my sight.

"Go downstairs. Uncle Yamanaka will be awake already. Tell him we need those shinobi standing guard. And if the other clans offer as well, encourage it," I order. I hear stretching not a moment later, before soft footsteps retreat towards the door and it's opened. "Michiko. I'll need you, Eimi, and Zeitou to be ready to be at the academy in two hours. I'll talk to Ensui, he'll take you. Get there, do the test, get back here. I'll make sure mom is staying here to let you in."

"Alright," she agrees.

"When you get home, get some sleep. There won't be anything else going on today."

"Music to my ears," she manages while yawning. "I'mma get me some coffee. You want some?"

"Please?" I almost beg.

Now… how the fuck am I going to get seventy-five kilos of sleeping beauty off me without waking her?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Having made it to the council chambers, I glare at Hitomi. Stubborn woman decided if it's safe enough for me, then it's safe enough for her. So, of course, I begged da… Nara-sama—everyone, really—to arrange a proper escort so my mate will be kept safe. So, as Mi takes my seat, I nod to the two Nara jounins and four chuunins that escorted us here, my eyes swimming in gratitude. They nod as well, backing away, but refusing to leave the room. After all, their clan head is here, and with the state of things as they are…?

I feel the eyes of the council on me, weighing and measuring me with smouldering glares. I smile, glad I'm here in my uniform and flak jacket. The only thing they can see is the amusement in my eyes—and it glows just a little brighter every time I see that Seitou asshole grumbling something under his breath, every time the woman with the scent that reminds me of that other group shifts in her seat.

But mostly, I'm going over the moves needed for this meeting. Hyuuga is already eyeing Mi, though he does so subtly. He and his clan never came to claim his daughter, so she's still at my den. That means he's going to make his move during or after this meeting.

Naruto starts fidgeting, so I swat him to calm him the hell down. His eyes are on Haruno, who's glaring daggers at some dumb fuck next to her. She and her daughter spent the night in a tent in my back yard, so I don't doubt there are conflicts of interest going on here. I'll need to plan around her stupidity, given she'll likely talk shit I don't want talked about.

Okay. So. When the Hokage starts the meeting. He'll ask me for my report, he always does. I have it sealed in my glove, as opposed to the usual spot in my hip pouch—given how three people have 'bumped into me' already, I'm guessing it would have been stolen long before the meeting started. Amateurs. At least they each sport a black eye for the trouble—who knew Naras were so defensive?

Unfortunately, that means I didn't get to break the hand that I felt in my pouch. Assholes.

The door swings open, revealing Hokage-dono. He enters with his usual two ghouls—zombie-sama of course glares at me.

The din of murmurs dies down just as the three fossils take their seats.

"This meeting is officially open. Aya-chan. I'll start with your report," Hokage-dono demands.

"You'll have to ask the three pickpockets sporting black eyes," I drawl, grabbing a speck of dust on Mi's shoulder and flicking it away nonchalantly. Naturally, three people start complaining instantly. "So you're saying you didn't bump into me, reach into my hip pouch, and take out a scroll that was lying within? It still smells of me, and I know for a fact Hatake and Inuzuka can smell it on you. That each of those scrolls also smell of beef, given I'd left them in the kitchen last night as the ladies were cooking, should further prove my point. And Inuzuka and Hatake were both in my den last night, I'm sure they can identify that as well."

"Agreed," Hatake drawls, his visible eye crinkling up in amusement.

"Tch. You're losing your touch, old man. You've let these infants get away with too much shit for too long," Inuzuka complains, annoyed and still smelling of smoke. She'd been on one of the teams dealing with the fire and kami-sama knows what else.

"What are you implying?" Shimura speaks up, his eye focused on me.

"You'll get yours, Shimura. First, I'd like to hear why three council members think stealing is legal. Let alone plausible written reports intended for the Hokage," I change tack, not willing to let this get side tracked.

"OU…"

I think the combined growling of three canine clan heads is enough to shut the little fucktard up. Given two of said heads are Anbu Captains—at least—I think tips the scales further.

"I will not repeat myself. Explain it here and now, or explain to T&I," I bark out.

"This has gone on long enough," Shimura announces, slamming his cane against the ground for effect.

"Oh?" I ask, turning to him. His sole eye bores into me, and the slight tingling in the base of my skull tells me just what is going on here. "Very well. Let's try this then. Two houses I'd bought yesterday are burned to the ground. While I am entertaining guests in my home, no less. Then I come here. Everyone here knows I make detailed reports meant for the Hokage's eyes only. And suddenly three people bump into me, and three scrolls I'd prepared are stolen from my person. Who the fuck do you think you are to cast such an accusation aside with something as pathetic as 'that is enough'? Fuck you, Shimura. I told you already, you'll get yours in time."

The tingling only grows stronger. "Try that fucking genjutsu again, Shimura, and we'll have a little chat about that shoulder and arm of yours," I sneer. His eye goes wide for a fraction of a second, before he composes himself, though everyone anxiously demands an explanation. What's to explain, though? His shoulder smells of Senju, his arm of Uchiha. He is of neither clan, so he fucking goofed.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I below once again. "Fuck! You people are like unsupervised toddlers in a crèche."

"Baby, please calm down," daddy soothes, his eyes flicking to Mi.

"No, daddy. I will **not** calm down! People in this village openly attack me. Burn my houses to the ground. And instead of dealing with the problem, this council wants nothing more than to shut me the fuck up! Now, you will fucking listen to me. I want those three shitstains arrested and interrogated for intent of theft of classified documents. And only then will I allow this cesspool continue their posturing."

"Agreed," Hokage-dono announces, per the script. "Anbu, arrest them. Have Ibiki see to them immediately."

And like that, another group of would-be insurgents are arrested. Why do I always end up being the one cleaning up your mess, Sarutobi?

Now. For the piece de résistance. I unseal another fake scroll with the final gambit. I toss it to Hokage-dono, refusing to leave Mi's side. Some arrogant Anbu shit catches it. He 'checks it for bombs' or whatever, before offering it to his soon to be ex-boss. Under two seconds, he's so fucked.

Hokage-dono takes his time reading it. But I'm not sure why. "If that says anything other than fuck you, you have a fake," I drawl. The scroll is torn in two—not on purpose, given parts are singed and the Hokage's eyes burning with anger. "I think you have someone in Anbu working your people against you. Shimura. Something to say?"

You have two plausible response, Shimura. Both equally damning. Choose wisely regardless.

"What are you implying, Namiki?" he demands. Smokescreen. _Typical_. Denial would have been more entertaining.

"Very well. Hokage-dono, do I kill the Op, or is he to be arrested for the same crime as the other three?"

"No, Aya. Cat. Place him under arrest. Take him to T&I. I will see to him _personally_ ," Hokag-dono goes the pussy route. Fine. Whatever. "Now, if no one else is dumb enough to continue down this road?"

No one can function well enough to do anything but breathe. So Hokage-dono motions for my real report. I unseal the real one and toss it to him, not caring if this one gets nabbed. I have a spare sealed as well. No one tries to grab it. How boring.

"Baby? How come the Operative didn't copy that perfectly?" daddy asks. A triple layered genjutsu set to automatically dispel after two seconds of activation. He wouldn't have had the time to dispel it within the timespan of the typical scans and making it seem he's doing his job. Hana was quite helpful with helping me to think that one up. But Sarutobi Asami even more so for marking it with the seal I activated.

"I'll tell you later," I tease, smirking.

"I see. Have you identified the third group?" Hokage-dono demands. I point to the third, the woman still squirming in her seat.

"Very well. But you know what you offer is circumstantial, at best," he drones, folding his hands in front of his face.

"Oh, I am well aware. You forget, however, that circumstantial evidence is enough to warrant an interview with T&I. Which should be all we need to get _those two_ to sing," I coo, grinning from ear to ear.

Everyone takes one look at the two in question. One overweight man sweating bullets and sporting a deer in headlights look. One underweight woman looking like she has ants in her pants. They won't last five minutes under T&I's tender touch.

"Agreed. Ah, there you are Cat. Right on time. Please escort Seitou-sama and Koruba-sama to T&I. I'll be by later to… _discuss_ things with them myself." He, of course, knows that Shimura won't crack under any known means. And besides, this was detailed in my earlier report. We're just building up a case against the 'Darkness of Shinobi'—stupidest moniker I've ever heard.

With two more being escorted out, both looking like they're busy shitting themselves, I settle in. I've done my bit. The rest isn't up to me.

"Good. Now that that is handled. Is there anything else that needs discussing?"

"H-hokage-sama! Surely you aren't bending to the whims of an infant!"

"Quite the contrary. Everything that has happened here is part of the on-going investigation into the dealings of the civilian council. Or has no one noticed that only Civilian Councilmen have been arrested?" Whatever floats your boat, Sarutobi. "Now, onto the purpose of this emergency meeting. There have been no less than eight assassination attempts in the last twenty-four hours. Each assailant is currently in a holding cell, awaiting questioning."

Bullshit. I detailed in my report that doing that would… o~ooooooh. He's saying that to set a trap for Shimura. I doubt he'll fall for it, but you never know if you never try.

"In addition, as Aya said, two of her newly purchased homes have been burned to the ground. Let me make this perfectly clear. For the foreseeable future, I am declaring martial law, and I will start with public executions if these incidents do not cease immediately." I shiver. The menacing tone, the steel in his glare, the way he leaks just enough killing intent to show he's deathly serious…

Fuck. Who is this, and where's the old piece of shit that lost his touch?

Everyone is so busy looking around in a stupor, that none dare question him. It's about damn time!

"That is all. This meeting is adjourned." Hokage-dono stands, already moving to the door. "And Aya. I need a private meeting with you and Shikaku. Come to my office." I'm impressed, old man. So much so, that I won't even complain about the shitty wording.

I turn to the Nara contingent behind me, nodding to them. "Namiki-sama. I would like a word with you." Hyuuga Hiashi makes his move at last. Shocking.

"Walk with me."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

There is exactly ten minutes between Council Chamber doors and Hokage's office door at a sedate pace. I let the man set the pace, keeping myself between him and Mi-chan. He no doubt wants something more private, but this is all he's privy to, for now.

"How is Hitomi-san's recovery?" he tries. I roll my eyes, wondering at the predictability of people.

"I cannot discuss my patient's case to third parties. And no, clan heads are not exempt," I drawl, picking up the pace to show my stance on this.

"Very well. Could we perhaps meet sometime this week? There are things I wish to discuss with you," he changes tack. I slow down.

"Contact me via daddy. He'll set up a time and place," I drawl, happy he pays attention to _subtle_ cues. It makes this so much easier on me.

"As you wish." He bobs his head. "Would it be acceptable to station Hyuuga shinobi outside your compound. You guard my daughter, after all." I narrow my eyes. That isn't expected. At all. He purposely leaves his daughter in my care?

"Only branch members," I meet him halfway. I can smell their branding, so if he tries anything I can fuck him over for it.

"Of course, Namiki-sama. Thank you for your trust in this." He seems almost too agreeable.

"You are, of course, aware of what I would do to any guilty party that harms my mate." What is your angle, man! Fuck, even uncle Inoichi is easier to read than you! I legit have **nothing** to go on here!

"I was your mother's classmate," he says, a smile in his tone. I already knew that, but that doesn't say anything about your shitty council. "Though, it might be pertinent to warn the Hyuuga council."

"Careful, Hyuuga-sama. I might take that as your blessing," I tease, finding this conversation oddly enjoyable.

"Perhaps." He sounds as amused as I am. "You may expect my people within the hour. Should you have a need, they will have standing orders to aid you. Though, I have a favour to ask."

"Namely?" I narrow my eyes, wondering what this man's angle is. He's too easy-going, nothing like I expected.

"My younger daughter, Hanabi. Please guard her as well, until this upheaval is set to rights. I would offer a handmaiden from the branch house to serve them within your walls, should you find this agreeable."

"The daughters, yes. The maid, no. None of your clan but the two will be allowed within my den," I shoot him down.

"That is agreeable. Thank you, Namiki-sama. I look forward to our meeting." With that, he stops, turns heel, and heads back the other way. What the fuck just happened?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

On entering Hokage-dono's office, I find Shimura already sitting there, waiting. Oh, this is too good for words. Hokage-dono motions for me to have a seat opposite them, on the two-seater. I grin.

"I will offer only one warning. Another genjutsu from you and I start a body count," I drone, glaring dully at Shimura. He opens his sole visible eye, refusing to comment on that.

I take my seat, motioning for Mi-chan to lay her head in my lap. The second she's comfortable, the door swings open, revealing dadd…

Fuck, Aya! He isn't your father! Stop confusing the public persona with the reality! Your father is dead!

"Right on time," Hokage-dono muses. "Just one—"

There's a knock. The door opens revealing Hatake and the crazy bitch from T&I I have yet to be introduced to. Once the door is closed behind them, I feel the tingle of a privacy jutsu ripple over my skin.

"Aya-chan. Because of recent events, I believe it in your best interest to station a handful of Anbu Ope—"

"Denied. Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, and Sarutobi clansmen are permitted. No Operative I do not approve of will be allowed within a hundred metres of my home," I lay it out in no uncertain terms. "The ink boy and his team are also not permitted."

Shimura doesn't react to the barb. I figured he wouldn't.

"Now, now, child. Why so abrasive? We aren't in the council chambers." Hokage-dono… hmm.

"I'm sorry. I must have confused the man that ordered my homes burned down, with this mummy. Silly me," I drawl, glaring dully.

"I do not appreciate the insinuation," Shimura warns, glaring at me.

"Let's try this then. If I find one of your Anbu Operatives near me or my allies. I will kill every member of your clan. Torture anyone associated with you. And skullfuck you with my tetsubo," I gush, smiling sweetly with my head tilted to one side. Unless he's brain dead, he'll know that I look forward to proving it. "Is that better?"

"I am not an enemy you wish to make." You're the one intent on making enemies. I'm just showing you I'm not afraid to play your game, and fuck you over while I'm at it.

He just sits there, utterly devoid of any emotional reaction. Let's do something about that, shall we.

"Tell me, Shimura. How _is_ your daughter these days? Pregnant, I hear," I coo, grinning. His eye twitches. I think I hit a nerve. "What a tragedy it would be if anything were to… _happen to her_. Don't you agree?"

A maelstrom of hatred and killing intent washes over me.

My grin only widens, my eyes never shying away from him. "I'll make you a one-time only deal, Shimura. You leave me and mine alone, and I'll leave you and yours alone. But!"

The killing intent doesn't waver, nor does my eerie grin.

"If I find any reason whatsoever to suspect you, your allies, or anyone of Konoha… you know, like that doctor that tried to foist me onto a _mysteriously_ _non-existent_ Yamanaka Fuu? Well, let's just say you'll be guilty by association. So I do hope these… _incidents_ won't happen again. Don't you?"

"You play a dangerous game, Namiki," he drones, his eye boring into me.

"I don't play games." I nudge Mi to stand. This meeting is over, after all. "But by all means. Touch someone I care about. Look at them the wrong way. And start counting down to the corpses on your front porch. Good day, Shimura." As I'm walking away, I feel Shimura's eyes on the seal on the back of my neck. It isn't visible, per se. But I don't doubt he can see the indent of parchment used to stick it to my skin. Oh, the things that Sarutobi Asami can do when she's motivated. I have to do something nice for her.

I usher Mi-chan out of the office. Just as I grab the doorknob, I hear a low whistle.

"And I thought I was the scare factor in this relationship," daddy teases, a smile in his voice. "So, Hokage-sama. What did you want to discuss?"

"Hiring her as my assistant." Oh, fuck no! "But I doubt anyone could convince her to stay away from Hitomi-chan just now."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Arriving at the den, I find my genins in the front yard waiting for me. Zeitou, Michiko, and Eimi, each sporting a Konoha forehead protector wrapped around their necks like a choker and uniforms identical to mine.

"I've been cloned," I tease, feeling at least somewhat better. Hyuuga's initial meeting is out of the way. Shimura's bitch slap, too. Now, I can just kick back and relax for the day. "Alright guys. I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

"But I haven't even had breakfast," Mi teases, wrapping her casts around me just for the hell of it. I roll my eyes. What do I see in her, again?

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 24_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: I had this chapter ready last night, but I didn't think it was ready. I still don't think it's ready. I wanted to do more with that meeting with Danzou. But the fact is, it's never going to be perfect, no scene is, so...  
_**


	25. Unintended consequences

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 _ **Chapter 25 – Unintended consequences**_

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I pace up and down in front of those assembled, wondering how this will go. I pace, and I wonder. I wonder, and I pace. Neither helps me.

"I don't know how much you've heard. I don't know how much you know," I begin, mentally bracing myself for the worst of it. "I'll start at the beginning and we'll work our way forward."

I continue pacing, my mind racing as I struggle to figure out what to say and what to leave out. If I keep things from my clan, from my pack, it will hurt them in the long run. Yet, I've done nothing but mete out what I say for so long, I'm not sure I know how to be transparent.

My eyes fall on the scroll Reika hung on the wall, as I asked her to. The faded white background with red kanji boldly, brazenly shouting the three things that matter to Namikis:

Family. Loyalty. Solidarity.

My lips curl upwards, the rising panic stilled at last. This is my family. I should never have to hide from them.

"Everything you've heard me say publicly before arriving in Konoha has been a half truth, at best. Most of what you will hear me say outside of this den will be much the same. Not because I enjoy lies or deceit, but because I've had to survive with a deck stacked against me." Turning to them, I drink in the sight before me.

Side by side. Their eyes all trained on me, their emotions unshielded from me. I see into them. How Reika's been studying the bags under my eyes—she knits her brow and frowns. How Sakiko's eyes light up at seeing me standing tall when the world seems to be crashing down around my ears—she adores me, I don't doubt. How Yasu smiles as brightly as she can to ease my worries, even with bags under her eyes as _impressive_ as my own—she's been sleeping worse than I have. Kana and Satoko nod and their eyes twinkle—they've heard nothing new, but seem please I admit this on my own and without being prompted to.

Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi, Tsuji, and Atsu grin, shaking their heads in amusement as if to ask me to tell them something they don't know.

And Hitomi. She sits there, her face blank but her eyes smiling for me. She nods, as if to encourage me to crawl forwards, if I must—as long as I'm still moving in the right direction.

Sigh. I sniff, smelling no one but us in this room. With little more than a nod, I walk over to the door and activate a hidden seal to lock it. I walk over to the door leading out into the backyard and repeat the process.

With the room completely sealed, I sniff again. Ah. There he is. "I know you're here, Hatake," I drone. I should have kicked his dumb ass out of my den, but alas…

The air in the corner shivers, its colours churning as Hatake's revealed. _Le gasp_. I'll never get over this _unexpected_ turn of events.

Not missing a beat, I cast a privacy jutsu. My pack exchange worried looks and murmured questions as to what's going on. Let's address that, shall we?

"The Namiki family. We've been part of the Uzumaki clan since before we recorded our history," I begin sitting down in front of my pack and ignore what Hatake's doing. "They found my ancestor, Yamastu, who had snuck into their village to steal some food for himself and his daughter, Okichi. The father and daughter were survivors of a raid on a nearby village. Well… more a nearby island, but that's beside the point."

I shake my head, wondering why I'm telling them this. Why I'm telling Hatake this—not that he wouldn't know the tale. I find them fascinating, longwinded tales of ole. But I know I'm weird like that, and I seriously doubt anyone else will care.

 _Sigh_. "Long story short. Okichi had two sons. The father of the Namiki family, who served the Uzumakis as retainers. And the father of the Hatake family, later the Hatake clan, who served the Senjus as retainers. And a daughter, who became the first Inuzuka. Blah, blah, blah. Facts, facts, facts. Konoha's three Canine Clans have a common ancestor." Namiki history abridged.

"…" All of them are working their mouths, trying to make sense of this, their eyes darting between Hatake and me.

"We are the shadow guards of the Uzumaki clan, not because we are hired to do so. It's because we've been part of their clan since Okichi was taken in as one of them." Nothing but wide eyes and low jaws to be seen.

"So… we're…?" Kana seems to be the only one capable of speech—though nothing I can make sense of.

"The Namikis, the Inuzukas, and the Hatakes consider each other family. If annoying, extended family we only invite on holidays because we have to. And just a heads up. The Inuzukas have been bragging about their superior numbers for generations. We mostly annoy them by pointing out we're more selective with our mates. And this asshole here is going to try to point out the quality differences. We'll shut him up by training you to be stronger."

"…" Again, more fishes out of water gazing back at me.

"So that's why you tolerate so much from Hatake," Michiko says, her brow furrowed and her head tilted to one side. I shrug. "I thought it was strange."

"Moving on. We're going to start your training with sensory techniques. That means you'll have people to commiserate with. The Inuzukas and this idiot know what it's like to have a sensitive nose and hearing." With that, I take two scrolls out of my hip pouch, tossing one to Michiko, the other to Eimi. "One has smell, the other hearing. Master these two and we'll work on the others."

I get nothing but nods. "I'll be helping the non-shinobi to unlock this. So you're all going to be going through your first growing pains as Namiki clansmen together." Reika and Sakiko share a look, eyes wide, but grinning all the same. They link arms, beaming at having a sister—I suppose. "While you're adjusting, I want you all to consider something."

"What's up, o'nee-chan?" Sakiko asks, her eyes twinkling like the night sky.

"Medical training. You don't have to be a shinobi if you don't want to, but I want you all to consider taking up the healing arts alongside me."

"Hmm?" Reika noises, a quiet smile on her face. She seems the most receptive. Interesting.

"I plan on opening a rehabilitation centre for trauma patients. But I need capable hands to help me run it. And besides. Learning to heal never hurt anyone." Satoko and Kana share a look, both excited at the prospect. I raise my hand to stall them, just as they're about to say something. "Don't answer now. Take a week or two. Think about it. Talk to Hana about it, she's a medic as well. When you're sure one way or the other, let me know."

I study the group for a long moment. Reika has a dreamy look in her eyes—she'll want in without fail. Satoko and Kana seem receptive as well. Yasu doesn't, nor do the others. Still, three is better than none.

"Now. Saki-chan. We'll start with you. It won't hurt at all," I assure her, waving her over to me. She doesn't even hesitate, practically barrelling into me. "I'm just going to hold your nose for a second. Then I'm going to cover your ears with my hands."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting down on the low table, my legs tucked beside Mi as I feed her once again. I find myself giggling at the gobsmacked looks of my pack. Reika's been closing in on herself at every little noise. Sakiko's too busy being amused with the smell of things and people—she's been sniffing everyone to try remember their scents.

However, it's Eimi, Michiko, and Zeitou that amuse me most. They've been glaring at every noise maker since they sat down. I know that pain well.

"Hmm?" One of the Inuzuka pups looks at Sakiko curiously. Sakiko's barely a hair's breadth from her, with her nostrils flaring with every breath. "Why're you sniffin' me?" she asks.

"You smell different," Sakiko announces. I shake my head, scooping up some fish for Mi. "You almost remind me of a forest?"

"Heh. Dummy. All Inuzukas smell like that," the girl teases, grinning. "I didn't know you had our sense of smell."

"She's still getting used to it, pup. Be patient with her," I explain, smiling at them both. "And Saki, you need to eat. You can continue sniffing around later."

"Sorr—" Saki winces, her own voice probably sounding loud in her head. "Sorry, Aya-nee." I laugh, shaking my head.

"Don't worry about it, pup. We all went through it," I soothe, patting the table beside me to tell her to come sit down.

"Hnn?" Hana noises, looking at my pack one at a time. She studies them for a moment, chewing on her pork chop. "You're really training them as Namikis, huh."

"Naturally." I thought it was obvious. "Told them about Okichi, too."

The Inuzukas are all smiles, petting their pups and rubbing their swollen tummies. Some of the others get curious, but no one asks. "Namiki-sama?" I turn to the Inuzuka, smiling.

"Aya."

She smiles, rubbing her tummy again, even as she grabs a drumstick. "Aya-sama. Would you mind if your pups joins us later? Mine's just starting hers, too," she asks, her eyes soft and warm as she regards me.

"The rabbits game?" I ask. My smile becomes drawn, thinking back on how mama helped me when my heritage started kicking in. She'd hide little stuffed rabbits all over the backyard, and I'd have to sniff around to find them. I still have those rabbits, I think.

"Hmm? You guys use stuffed rabbits, too?" Kiba asks, grinning like an idiot. I shake my head, rolling my eyes dramatically. "Good to know. You mind if Akamaru joins you guys? He loves that game."

"Lady hasn't learned it yet," I murmur, thinking about it. "How about I hide a bunch of 'em? The one that finds the most wins?"

"I'm in!" Saki announces, wincing at her own volume. Lady whines, mostly to cover her laughter. "I'm in, Aya-nee."

"You hear that, pups? Inuzukas versus Namikis. Aya and I will hide the rabbits," Tsume encourages it, looking to me for my agreement. I nod. There's nothing wrong with a healthy competition.

Akamaru comes pestering Lady, hoping to encourage her to join in as well. She grumbles, looking away from him. "Trust me, Lady. It's fun. And all the pups will be playing," I say, scooping up some pork and biting it in half to give Mi her fair share. "But, you need to eat."

Lady whines and, if I didn't know any better, I would swear she rolls her eyes at me. She explains that she already ate, and she isn't hungry. I look over, finding an empty plate in front of her with smears of oils and blood to show she isn't lying.

Works for me.

"You're telling everyone to eat. But you don't eat enough," Mi tells me, her eyebrow slightly elevated as if to dare me to challenge her.

"I eat as much as you do," I argue, biting into some fish just to prove my point. I scoop up some rice and offer it to her.

"When these casts come off…" she trails off, her eyes narrowed. I roll my eyes, not interested in her idle 'threats'. Knowing her, she'd argue to keep them on for an extra few days, so she'll still have the right to monopolise my time as she pleases.

"Focus on resting and healing, Mi. The casts will come off in time." She leans in, a smug smirk on her lips and her eyes twinkling with mischief. I stab her in the shoulder with my finger, warning her, "Behave. We're eating."

Ignoring my warning, her nose trails against my neck, her breath hot on my skin. Completely against my will, I feel my head tilting slightly away from her, allowing better access.

A kiss. A gentle nibble. A soft, needy moan erupting from within me. A fire burning in the pit of my tummy, telling me that my body likes the direction Mi's heading. A smile I cannot fight hard enough tugs at my lips, and my eyes are suddenly closed so I can feel her more keenly.

"We're supposed to be eating, you know," I complain, the logical part of my brain trying to reboot.

Warmth on my earlobe ends all hope of resistance, as she licks and nibbles as she pleases. Something inside me shouts something—something that should make so much sense. But as she moves down, searing hot kisses being trailed down my neck… somehow these kisses are different than before… my skin more sensitive, my whole being more focused on them… something…

I pull back, whimpering at the lack of contact. Our eyes meet. That pleased, bordering on boastful, smile in her eyes tells me she enjoys the effect she has on me. Even as it infuriates me, she steals the air from my lungs.

The distance between us grates on me. My lips ache to taste her; my body craves to soak in her warmth. "Got it out of your system?" I ask, trying to sound annoyed with her. If only my eyes weren't half-lidded—I might convince her I'm serious.

She shakes her head no, leaning in.

Slowly.

Oh so slowly.

She closes her eyes, tilting her head to one side.

Slows down even more.

Then she stops.

The space between us annoys me.

The need to kiss her drowns out whatever that little voice in my head is shouting.

I lean forward, breathing her in.

"You need to eat," I murmur, unsure where that even came from. Her lips curl up into a teasing smile.

Her casts are lifted up off my lap and wrapped around me, pulling me into her lap.

"Aya-nee?"

"Nn?" I noise, annoyed. That's my go-away tone, Zeitou. It means: shut up.

"Someone's coming this way. Someone powerful. All five elements kind of powerful."

I groan and roll my eyes up into my head, annoyed. Of all the times that old pervert could show up, he chooses now?

"Hnn?" Mi noises, nibbling on my lower lip to draw my attention back to her.

I agree. His stupid ass can wait. I claim Mi's lips, my arms snaking around her shoulders and my fingers combing through her hair.

"Aya?" Mi murmurs, pulling back from me. I'm not in the mood to discuss that old fuck, Mi. I trail kisses down her jawline to her neck, teasing a shiver from her. "Why is Jiraiya of the Sannin here?"

I pull back slightly, finding the veins around her eyes engorged. I kiss the nearest vein, letting that be my reply before I turn to mom. "You mind taking Naruto to him. Someone needs her afternoon nap."

Mi huffs, annoyed, turning away from me. "Are you saying you don't want to lie in my bed, with no one to disturb our… _alone_ _time_?" Most of the women ooh, teasing a blush from both Mi and I.

The change is instant. A goofy grin takes over her face, her gaze hot and steamy. "I thought so. I'm sure auntie Tsume can handle the rabbits. Let's go."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After helping Mi go to the bathroom, and repeatedly assuring her that everyone farts—nothing to be ashamed of—I help her to get comfortable on my bed. I lay on my back, letting her lay her head on my tummy as I comb my fingers through her hair to help her fall asleep.

Call me crazy, but standing beside her as she takes a shit isn't a turn on. Nor is wiping her ass when she was done.

"Aya," she murmurs.

"Nn?"

"Can I… talk to you?"

"Silly question," I tease, a smile in my tone.

"…"

"Don't mumble, Mi. It's unladylike."

…

"You're still thinking about yesterday," I guess, thinking back to the conversation just before I left for the council meeting. She nods. "Well. I did say we'd talk about it later."

"Were you serious?" she repeats, no doubt asking once again if I really want to settle down. "Is that something you think about?"

"I'm a Namiki," I answer like that should explain everything. It does to me, but she probably doesn't have a clue. "Namiki women are all about raising strong hunters, all about the den. It's part of who we are."

"I… that… huh?"

I smile, tussling her hair and combing through it again. "People don't understand Namikis. Not because we're hard to understand, but because they look for complicated theories where simple ones will do."

"I don't understand."

"I'm a wolf."

She looks up at me, her face framed by a wild mess of hair.

"Seriously, Mi. Don't try to look more into than that. I'm a wolf. I care about the simple things in life."

"Like what?"

"Like a good, strong mate to cuddle up to at night." She noises, a smile in her tone. "Like where my next meal is coming from." She snorts, her chest shaking from soundless laughter.

"I swear. You should have been born an Akimichi." I roll my eyes, refusing to comment on that.

"And the next generation," I round off, annoyed with the amusement in her eyes. "Everything I do is related to one of those three things."

"Hnn…" she noises, her smile dimming and deep in thought.

"Sure, I'm a bit of an oddball. I mean, I'm more into food and literature and chocolate than anyone else in my family's history." She snorts, highly amused. She mumbles something about me asking Chouji on a date. "But…"

"But what, love?"

I blush. I like hearing her call me that, but… I… I dunno. "I want that life. I want to be able to retire, to stay at home and have babies and mind the house and complain about getting fat and… all of that… gods, I'm such a weirdo."

"You're not weird." She crawls up to me, kissing me on the lips. "You're quirky as hell though."

I swat her, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open—a silent _oh no you didn't_.

"You know I'm right." Her face is almost being split by a grin.

"Hnn!" I noise, tugging her to lay back down. She doesn't fight me, luckily.

"Hey," she calls to me, nudging my hand back to her scalp.

I raise an eyebrow, but she nudges my hand again, her eyes begging to get a little spoiling. "So what about you?" I ask, smoothing her hair and scratching her scalp gently.

"Me?" She thinks about that, muzzling my tummy to get comfortable again. "I'm…"

"It's alright, Mi. Take your time," I drone, obviously being sarcastic.

She snorts, shaking her head. "Where to even begin…?"

"At the beginning, of course." She snorts again, smiling this time.

"It's a long, boring tale."

"My favourite kind," I assure her, smiling warmly.

"Alright," she shrugs, "don't say I didn't warn you."

"I've been warned," I tease, laughing. She glares up at me, so I blow her a kiss.

She sighs, deflating as she lays her head on my tummy again. She's tense. Figuring it couldn't hurt, I start massaging her scalp to set her at ease.

"My parents had four children," she begins her tale. "The eldest, Shimazu, was an asshole from birth. He's infuriatingly pretty, and it made him arrogant. I can't stand him."

"I don't blame you."

"Then Natsu. We were really close growing up. Always doing everything together, no matter how much she hates fighting."

"Then me. Then my younger brother, Hiro. He's an ass, always being contrary for its own sake."

I snort, no matter how hard I fight it. I want to be sympathetic, show her I care and that I want to hear more. But how she talks about them tickles me pink. She shrugs, seeming aware of my plight.

"I haven't spoken to any of them in years. Not since… since… since that day… the day… Shimazu… broke my jaw." I grimace, worried about the implications.

"What happened?" I ask, before I can stop myself.

Nothing is said. Her only response is tears staining my top, burning into my skin. Her shoulders quake from the intensity of her emotions, which I don't doubt she'd buried deep within her since that day—two peas in a pod, me and her.

"Shhhh shhh shhh shhhh… There, there, Mi. Let it out. Just let it all out," I murmur, making soothing noises as I continue massaging her scalp.

"I… joined Anbu… not long after… I haven't… set foot in… _that place_ since."

I don't interrupt, letting her say whatever she needs off her chest. I keep petting her hair and smoothing the now mussed patches and massaging her scalp to make sure she knows I'm here, but I don't speak.

I'm certain I took her virginity. But…

The pieces she's shown me… scattered and broken as they are… they paint a picture. A picture I'm not sure I'm ready to face.

Why did her brother break her jaw? Given the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist style, I'm certain it wasn't because of a spar or even a brawl. He could kill her without bruising her. That means it was a moment of passion… intense passion… something that got him emotional enough that he resorted to balling his fist, against years and years of training…

Whatever happened, it was traumatic enough that she never wanted to see her family again, her clan again… the sister she was so close to… and she refuses to go back to their compound. To boot, she worked her way into Anbu before most graduated the Academy.

I don't like the picture I'm left with… at all…

"It's alright, Mi. You're safe here… you're safe with me," I murmur. Light snores are the only response I get. "I swear. I'll do all I can to make your life better, Namiki Hitomi… to make sure the only tears you cry are tears of joy, tears from laughing until your sides hurt."

I seem to collect broken people. But it's okay…

…it's okay, because…

…when the pain stops…

…our smiles are the brightest…

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **knock-knock**

"Shh!" I shush mom as she opens the door. She peeks in, finding Hitomi still asleep on me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answers quickly. Too quickly. "I just… wanted to see how you're doing?" Okay. You walked in on us having sex, something is MAJORLY wrong. You didn't 'just' want to see how I'm doing, either.

"Liar. You're doing all you can to not freak out, because you're afraid you'll ruin whatever progress you've made. You're scared to death for me, especially since Mi and I haven't made anything official. And you're not getting any support from daddy, so you're here to try to either make peace or to plant seeds of doubt in my head."

She sighs, her eyes suddenly haunted and world-weary. She comes in, closing the door behind her, and plops down beside me.

"You're just a little girl, Aya," she says, her eyes watery. "You… you shouldn't be dealing with… with _things_ for years."

"Yeah. You're probably right," I agree, smoothing Mi's hair again to help her to go back to sleep. Her breathing hasn't changed at all, but there was a slight twinge in her leg to show she's awake. "Life's fun like that."

"Baby, I'm serious. I…" She corrals a stray hair behind my ear, her ebony eyes swimming with a thousand conflicting emotions at once. "I just… I wish I could have protected you… even if for a little while."

"Well, you're in luck," I tease, smiling as I lay my hand on Mi's cheek. "Someone's going to start bugging me about retiring. Conspire with her. She'll thank you for it." I wink to show I'm mostly joking.

Mom snorts, laughter taking her by surprise.

"Thanks in advance," Mi mutters, muzzling my hand.

"Well, you're not plotting anything while taking a nap. So there," I intone, glaring dully at her. My gaze softens, seeing the peaceful air about my mate. "You need your rest."

I feel her lips curl up into a smile, even as her breathing evens out and her gentle snores kiss my ears once again.

I turn my attention back to mom, wondering what else there is to say. She needs to come to terms with this in her own time, no point in forcing it here.

"Are you… considering it?" she asks, her eyes flicking to Mi just before begging me wordlessly to say yes. The worry in her eyes tells me she's hoping for an actual answer, though.

I smile, wondering about that myself. To want that life again. To want be mind the home, to be a housewife… to be Hitomi's wife…? I told Mi that I do want it—was that sweet nothings said between lovers?

"It's a little early to make that kind of decision," I say, my eyes a bit misty and I don't doubt I'm glowing—if only a little. It _is_ too early. But I'd be lying if I said I was against the notion.

"…" Mom's eyes are wide with shock, her mouth hanging open. I tap my finger against my lips, to tell her to keep quiet about it. She shakes off her stupor, nodding to show she understands.

"If you want me to sleep…" Mi complains. I giggle, smoothing her hair in lieu of an apology.

 _We'll talk later_ , I mouth to mom. She nods, obviously swimming in a thousand conflicting emotions at once. Still, she leans in and kisses my brow—and Hitomi's crown—before leaving.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Entering the family sitting room, I find the most awkward scene ever. Everyone is sitting, standing, halfway between the two. All is silent. Eyes are wide with shock. Jaws hang low.

Most notable is Uzumaki Naruto standing there with his fists balled and anger in his eyes. He's glaring at Sarutobi Asami, who's in tears, her chin quivering. And behind her, with his hands on Sarutobi's shoulder to calm her down, is the asshole of the hour himself. Konoha's resident nutjob, his face set in stone and his eyes downcast.

Of all the worst possible fucking timing.

"Naruto," I drone, getting between him and them. "Wait in my office. We'll discuss this privately."

"A—"

"Fascinating. And you can tell me all about it, in my office. Take Minori, Haruki, and Ao with you. And those two you dragged into this." He opens his mouth again. "Now."

Minori comes to him, laying her hand on his shoulder. Naruto looks for me to her and back to me, working his mouth to say something—anything—but the words don't come. Finally giving up, he lets loose an aggravated growl and grumbles as he storms off, his clansmen hot on his heels to calm him the hell down.

Hikaru motions for two children about the Sarutobi brat's age to follow. One looks to be a sickly boy, the other an orphan girl with mismatched hand-me-downs and orange hair. They both look at me, fear obvious in their eyes and scents. They don't stay long—thankfully.

I turn my full attention back to Jiraiya, glaring dully at him.

 _Sigh_. "Some spymaster. You're worse at dealing with people than I am," I intone, sighing again for good measure. He scoffs, looking indignant as he opens his mouth to put his foot into it. "No, I don't care what your opinion is."

He puffs out his chest and looks away, about to mutter something equally stupid.

"Yes, I've considered that. And yes, I still think you're a dumb fuck."

He glares at me, his hand already raised and a finger pointing up at the ceiling.

"You'll have me know a lot more than that. And I still won't care." He huffs, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I agree. Let's get the regular out of the way quickly."

He sighs, shaking his head in dismay. He motions for me to get on with it. No one in the room seems capable of a coherent thought, staring at me just as incredulously as they were staring at Naruto a moment ago.

"You've heard about his latest mission. Yes, I was just as pissed. No, I didn't get a chance to update the scroll for you, so you'll have to announce you're coming next time. Not that you ever listen. Yes, I fucked with every official report. Yes, the old man knows the whole story. No, I'm not interested in telling you the nitty-gritty. Yes, I've been busy. No, I don't care what your stance is on that. Yes, I'm quite happy with my promotion. And no, I don't care if you were a jounin by my age. Yes, I finally got clan status. Yes, I got the Uzumaki in as well. Yes, they are under my care. No, I don't care what your contacts have told you on the matter. No, I will not change my mind because of what you think could possibly happen. No, I'm not interested in hearing your side of it."

He opens his mouth, his eyes angry.

"That's exactly why I'm making the moves I'm making. Now shut up and let me finish." He rolls his eyes, huffing. "Yes, I am making moves. Yes, daddy is helping me. No, he doesn't know the whole story. No, it's none of your fucking business, so stay the hell out of it." His rolls his eyes up into his head, groaning.

"Yes, I'm quite happy with being able to predict your next question. You've always been predictable. No, I'm not sure I care what your stance is on that. I'm not sure I ever cared. Yes, I have plans for Naruto's training. Hatake and the redhead you just _introduced_ to him are going to help me. Yes, I know what you said. No, I don't think now was a good time. Yes, I think you're a fucking idiot—not that that's news to you. Yes, I will fully support Naruto kicking your wrinkly ass well into the next country. And yes, I still think you're a worthless piece of shit. No, I don't think you hiring me was a bright idea. Yes, I will tell him as much."

He opens his mouth again.

"And no. Hiring a six year old girl to guard him is the stupidest fucking plan I've ever heard. Yes, I know you've heard about my romantic conquests. No, you cannot watch. No, I will not give you tips for your next book. No, I'm not going to change my mind." He glares at me. "And yes, I'm well aware I changed the subject even while predicting the questions coming later." He closes his eyes, shaking his head and breathing like a labouring animal.

"Now. We've dealt with the first hour of conversation. And yes, I will ignore the rest of the boasts and supposed updates you still think you educate me with." He motions with his hand with his eyes wide with surprise. "Fuck you. You've never said anything I couldn't figure out on my own."

"What about Danzou's next mo—"

"That's interesting. _Very_ interesting. But not news," I drone, my eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Now. You know I'm not interested in your money. I want three things from you. And yes, you damn well know the first two."

He looks surprised, his mouth opening again.

"No. I'm not going to negotiate terms."

"What you—"

"Are you still trying?" I ask, curious and raising an eyebrow to accentuate that.

"Think about it, Aya!" he bellows. Motioning in the direction Naruto just left in.

I raise an eyebrow; _what makes you think I haven't?_

"You… This… But…" That obviously hits him harder than the last sixty moves of his I predicted.

"What? If I'm released from my status as shadow guard I'm not going to help him?" I help the blithering idiot out. "I've made my moves, so that isn't needed any more. Not to mention it's set up that the Uzumakis are also under Nara protection, which by virtue of definition extends into the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Sarutobi clans. And quite fucking frankly, the Uzumakis deserve to see people wanting to help them even when they aren't being paid to do so."

"You just have all the answers. Don't you," he complains, rubbing his forehead. "Gods. And I thought Miwako was impossible."

"Moving on. When can I expect payment?" I change tack, pointedly not looking at Hitomi. He opens his mouth. "That's nice. Now a serious answer without the insinuation I'm a smartass."

He rubs the back of his neck, looking up to the heavens and sending a mute prayer up to any god listening. Then comes the long sigh, and the slumping of his shoulders. "I'll check in the morning," he grumbles.

"Good. You can stay until a socially acceptable time. You are not sleeping here. And I'll know if you try." I glare at him to get the point across. "Now. If you'll excuse me. I need miss carrot top to out the latest fire you started."

"No, Aya. There's something you need to hear," he tries. I motion for him to get on with it. "I… found a lead."

"About?"

"…" He works his mouth, but words won't form. His eyes are blank, his face carefully controlled. We're back to this, are we? He knows something, but he never says what. He'll try again and again, eventually sighing and heading off into the night.

"You'll find your tongue eventually." I turn from him, finding Michiko and Reika standing nearby, awaiting instructions. "Gather the Namikis. In my office. I need daddy and mom as well. And Reika, I need you to officially invite Hatake and auntie Tsume."

Reika's eyes widen in shock. "Yes. It's going to be that kind of meeting. Hop to." A thought hits me. The old goat will never sit this out. He'll pull a Hatake in a heartbeat. "Jiraiya. If you don't mind walking in like a normal human being, instead of sneaking in like an asshole."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Not surprisingly, daddy asked uncle Inoichi and uncle Chouza to join us, who each come with their wife and heir. And auntie Tsume brought her pups as well. It's a bit crowded, but it isn't too bad. The couch was moved out of the way, and everyone forms a circle so we can all see each other.

"Settle down," I announce I'm ready to begin. I lock the door and I cast a privacy jutsu.

Hitomi sits on the ground between Michiko and Zeitou, smiling and motioning me over with her cast. Seeing no reason not to, I sit between her thighs, letting her wrap both her casts around me.

I look around, finding everyone making themselves comfortable. For some reason, Ino is sitting beside Zeitou, and she keeps glancing at me… I'm going to have to face her sooner or later. Preferably later.

"Alright, Naruto. What did you want to tell me?" He takes a deep breath, his mouth already wide open to start shouting. "Quietly. Calmly."

"How long have you known?" he demands hotly. At least he isn't shouting.

"I know about a lot of things I haven't told you. Be more specific."

"Asami."

"I know a lot about her I haven't told you. Try again."

He stares, wide-eyed and mouth hanging low.

"About her being your sister, then." He blinks. He grumbles out something I can't make sense out of, but he nods. "Since Mi got back from her mission. When she took me to get my gloves marked. I knew the second I smelled her."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? That you have living breathing family in this village? Family you can't provide for that is being cared for by the man you consider a grandfather?" He starts sputtering, likely trying to tell me that isn't the point. "Or how about that she knew about you. That she's been here all your life? That she knew about me being the Uzumaki shadow guard? Or how about that she bribed me to keep her up to date about you? That she is under orders to not approach you? Or maybe that I purposely told her to come to Wave so you two can meet outside of Konoha. Or was it that you didn't figure out that I'd sent every message I could through her to you. What didn't I tell you?"

"A… I… Tha…" I seem to have this effect on people. He looks flabbergasted, fighting to find words… just like his godfather.

"So. You can either focus on the past, or you can focus on the now. Because your clan will have a proper home within the week. You'll have a roof to offer her, should you both want that. And I've been obsessing over incomes. You'll be able to provide for all of them. And that third thing Jiraiya doesn't know. Is asking him to set up a security system just like we have here for all the houses in this street. Even for the street itself. That means you can protect them, just as I protect those in my den."

That does it. The blond, hyperactive knucklehead is in tears. He looks to his clansmen, even the two he has yet to officially mark as clansmen, and he smiles brighter than the summer's midday sun.

"Now. Onto the reason why we're all here," I move on, not giving him the chance to mouth off again. "You need someone you can trust to guide you through the coming months. Someone that knows what it's like to be clan head. Every clan head in here is someone I trust," I glare at Hatake, "more or less. But the point is that you will have a million questions, and you'll need people to ask those questions to."

I look to mom and daddy… I see the warmth in their eyes as they smile at me. I don't understand why I trust them as deeply as I do—that bothers me. Yet I can't bring myself to deny that I do trust them.

"What… about the old man?" he asks, so open and trusting. He's learned nothing, then. Trust is earned in the darkest of times, not in the _good ole days_.

"Do you think he can be Hokage and walk you through the first months as clan head at the same time?" I lie through my teeth. I wouldn't piss on that man if he was on fire. No matter his recent strides to improve, he's a damn fool, through and through.

"Moving on. You need to start seeing the bigger picture. And you need to start your training, and the training of your clansmen. Let's not forget you need to figure out what you're doing with those two." I point to the two I've yet to be introduced to. "You're clan head now, Uzumaki Naruto. That means you have so much more going on that worrying about what I'm not telling you. So do yourself a favour. Focus. And stop being the fidgety fucknut that gets into trouble every tick of the clock."

"I…" he trails off, his gaze flicking from Asami to Minori to Haruki, to the new two. "Alright," he nods, "where do I start?"

"By making allies," auntie Mariko says, her eyes on Asami for some reason. There's a sense of nostalgia, of loss, of promises made—if that makes sense. I get the impression this has to do with Kushina, an old classmate of theirs. "Then you start making business deals to ensure you have an income. I'm sure Aya-chan will be helping you with that, but it never hurts to consider these things for yourself."

"This is a private meeting, auntie. Talking about Kushina isn't off limits." I give her a meaningful look, hoping she understands that talks of Minato will have to wait a while longer.

"Kushina?" Naruto asks, his eyes narrowed.

"Your mother," I clarify. He bursts into tears, unable to contain the emotions any longer. "She was in their class."

"Do you…?" Asami asks, her eyes moist. I raise an eyebrow. "Do you have _their_ diaries?"

"I have the entire library," I answer, wincing at how brazenly I admit that. Mi squeezes me, to help me to calm down. "Mama even got the rest of it from Hidden Eddies. Including the armoury and whatever else was in that vault."

The twins are in tears, sharing a look—a moment—for the first time.

"That will come after your den is secured. Not a moment before." They nod, not fighting me. "And Naruto. You missed that little titbit. Jiraiya's the one that invoked the Namikis being your shadow guards again. As is his right, as your godfather."

Our old classmates sputter and stare, trying to make sense of that.

"He isn't in the village often. But he's the one that got me used to writing reports. He's the reason I learned to be as sneaky as I am, so I could guard you from the shadows." I glare at the shitstain staring at Yasu. You'd think he had enough time to study her, but he probably had too many faces to filter through. That she grips her tanto tells me all I need to know. "And he's going to be a fucking corpse if he doesn't stop staring at my sister."

"A—"

"Old news. She chooses to be Namiki Yasu. And that's all I care to know." He opens he mouth. I raise an eyebrow. He pauses. I roll my eyes. "Naruto. This meeting is about you. It's time you start taking the reins, because I'm tired of everything being about me and mine."

A choking sound. I look to Ino, finding her biting her lip, laughter in her eyes. She's looking at her father, so I turn to look at him as well. His lopsided grin tells me he's just as amused. More choked laughter tickles my hearing, this time from a known source: Naruto. I turn to him, finding him holding his sides, his face red, and his shoulders quaking with (mostly) soundless laughter. Even the chest I lean against starts shaking.

"What's so funny?" That's all it takes. The room is filled with laughter. Loud, belly-aching, cheeks-burning, I-can't-believe-she-just-said-that laughter that has everyone helpless in peals of joy and life. "Hey! I'm being serious here." That only makes them laugh harder.

Idiots. I'm surrounded by fucking idiots.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 25_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: And there we have it. It took a bit longer, because I'm busy with studying again. And I have a lot more going on than I used to. Sorry about that.  
_**


	26. Hitomi: Check

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 26 – Hitomi: Check_**

 ** _Namiki Hitomi Chapter_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

No more. No more.

I have an appointment with Hana in less than an hour. My casts are supposed to come off today. That means things are going to change—for the better this time. Only for the better. It's all I'll accept.

Aya's done everything for me this last week. Everything. Feeding me, bathing me, clothing me, scratching my scalp, soothing the itching skin as it heals. She's taken me shopping for clothes, for weapons, for new kunai and shuriken and tools, refilling my rations bars and bottles of water.

She pulled strings with Jiraiya to remove my branding—though he hasn't found any answers yet, he has made a copy of my seal and promised he won't give up until he has the counter seal for it. She also has a meeting with Hiashi-sama this evening, no doubt to negotiate my freedom from their clan. She even has the forms on her desk to officially adopt me into the Namiki clan.

No more. With everything she's doing for me, I'm not going to offer her anything less than my all. She needs me as desperately as I need her.

"Yoshino-san," I address her, bobbing my head respectfully. She takes a seat beside me on the couch in Aya's office, her eyes teeming with questions she's itching to ask me. "A privacy jutsu, please."

Her eyes widen slightly, but the tingling ripples over my skin soon enough. "What's this about?" she asks, furrowing her brow. "Is Aya alright?"

"No," I answer honestly, shaking my head to accentuate the simple truth. Aya isn't alright, and I've finally figured out why. "I need your help to change that."

"Anything." She doesn't even hesitate, her eyes begging for the answers that have eluded her.

"I need to get her away from Konoha for two weeks, if not longer. Her and the Namiki clan," I say, my thoughts racing, erratic. "I'll need Ensui and his family, as well. Along with Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten."

"Why?" she asks, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Because I know how to get past her defences. And Konoha is part of the problem," I say. I knit my brow, staring at an uninteresting spot on the wooden floor, trying to corral my thoughts to explain this as best I can. "There's too much noise here. Too many scents. All of them remind her of what she lost."

I shake my head, wondering why I didn't figure it out before. "While we were training, there was something new. Maybe it wasn't exciting, maybe it wasn't appealing. But it was new." In the forest, just two of us, that's where she started opening up to me. I was already past the first of her defences, but not even I got past the biggest wall until she got away from her ghosts haunting her. Saimogo was the last straw for her; where she shed her public persona, where she awoke that first time—truly coming back to life.

"A different backdrop. That's what she needs if we want her to make meaningful relationships with her peers. Somewhere where I can still take her to teahouses, where we can see the shows, listen to the music. Take her dancing." I smile, thinking back on that day. I didn't even know she couldn't taste anything until she told me the ice cream tasted good. It was the second dessert I'd ordered, so I knew it was significant when it moved her to tears.

"That…" Yoshino-san murmurs. I turn to her, seeing her eyes out of focus.

"You should see her during a geisha's dance," I say, thinking back.

"Oh?"

I smile, nodding. "The tension in her shoulders eases. Her eyes soften. A little smile pulls at her lips, though she fights it at first. It's when the story starts to unfold, when the raw emotions are unleashed. She lives with them, through them. Her shield drops completely in that moment. Her face smoothens. And she smiles. Truly smiles. Her eyes light up."

"I see."

I shake my head, but the woolly clouds I'm engulfed in persist. "I plan on teaching her the tessen kata I've learned," I murmur. Sure, they're useful in a fight, but… I want to see her dancing for me. "She's going to be pestering me to toughen up. That's how I plan on doing it. When she argues that she should teach me how Miwako-sensei taught her, I bargain that I should teach her how my mom taught me."

"Alright," I hear, tugging my attention to her. She smiles, her eyes twinkling as she nods. "I'll see what I can come up with."

"Thank you. But…"

"But…?" she asks, encouraging me to continue.

"Please don't set dates or book anything. I want to present this to her as a choice. That she can choose to go or to stay. Give her some leeway in when and how long."

She smiles, nodding. "Yes. I think she'll like that most of all."

The door swings open; Aya enters with a troubled look in her eyes. Hana's but a step behind her, but I know my appointment isn't what worries her. Is it the appointment with Zabuza-san? Is she worried about whether she'll purchase the last house later? Ensui was complaining how there's one stubborn owner trying to up the price every time to get the 'best deal he can'—is that what weighs on her?

She's wearing a bright pink furisode kimono top, the dancing butterflies almost seeming to come to life on her sweeping sleeves, with a skin tight seven-eighths pants the colour those grapes she keeps buying me. We never wear shoes in the house, so her being barefoot isn't surprising.

She's so tiny—frail-looking, when compared to her peers. Yet there's something in how she carries herself these days. Perhaps it's how she rights her glasses and peers up at me. Or how she stands tall no matter the weight of the worlds she carries on her shoulders. Maybe it's how her eyes smile as she drinks me in.

She's a force of nature—I've seen her work first hand after all. And yet, she's exceedingly gentle with me and her pack. She's a walking, breathing contradiction.

"Come," she demands, beckoning to me. I shake my head, finding her sitting on her desk, her eyes warm and inviting. I don't fight her—I don't want to. So I go to her, turning around and leaning into her as she instructs. Her thighs hug my hips as she pulls my back to her, her arms snaking around my middle.

Hana comes to me, her hands glowing green. I see her lips moving, but I can't make out a word she says—I assume it has something to do with my arms, so I offer both at the same time.

I don't pay our treasured Anbu Medic any mind. No, it's Aya's gentle warmth, her chin on my shoulder, her hot breath on my neck, how she so completely offers her warmth to me.

"You should pay better attention," she murmurs, so soft I have to strain my hearing to make out her words. "Hana complimented you for listening to her."

I smile. "With you keeping an eye on me? How could I not," I tease, not fighting the smile.

"Did you listen to her saying to toughen up you forearms and wrists? That you have to come see her at least once a week for check-ups?"

I shake my head, not bothering to deny it. "I'm between your thighs. Can you blame me for being distracted?" I feel her growing warmer against me, blushing no doubt. "We don't have anything planned for tomorrow, right?"

"Not yet," she says, her tone flat, lifeless. Something's bothering her—something big.

"Good. If these casts come off, I want to take you out," I say, feeling a little lightheaded from the scent of her. "The whole clan. Anywhere you want to go, as long as there is food and music."

"I…" she tenses, trailing off. She shakes her head, seemingly to will away something troubling her. Her grip on me almost becomes painful, her breathing so shallow, so erratic, I fear she'll pass out.

"I'll give you two some privacy," Hana announces, flicking my casts and breaking them off me with almost no effort. I smile, hoping she understands how much I appreciate what she's done for me—it's a bit drawn, showing just how much Aya worries me. She offers an understanding smile, her eyes flicking to Aya—she feels the same, it seems. I nod.

"You're the alpha. You promised your pack an outing. I want to help you deliver on your promise," I lay it out, understanding that isn't the issue. She's so busy taking care of everyone that she once again forgets to take care of herself. I need to get her into a healthy rhythm. If I do nothing, say nothing, she'll lock herself in this house and never leave.

I turn around, taking her into my arms. Her response? Taking her glasses off and plopping them onto the desk, burying her face in the nape of my neck. Her tears pour down my neck, burning into me.

"What's wrong?" I murmur, doing my damnedest not to break down. This isn't about taking her out, taking her clan out… this is something bigger, broader, deeper. She needs me to be strong for her, now more than ever. She holds me tighter, taking two fistfuls of my shirt to keep me closer—as if I would leave alone her like this. "Love?"

"I need… need to… get a… away… from Ko… Konoha."

"Of course." I nod, holding her a little tighter to keep her from falling apart—to keep me from falling apart. "I'll take you. You and the others. Anywhere you want to go. For as long as you want to go."

Her shaking slows, but her tears don't. I rack my brain, struggling to figure out something—anything—that could have her like this. The same fierce kunoichi that faced a palace filled with guards without a shred of fear, that took on the likes of Momochi Zabuza without batting an eyelash.

What could turn my Aya into the mess wrapped in my arms?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Aya tosses a single, small scroll across the table to Haku-san. The brunette catches it, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Everything you'll need is in there," Aya explains. "The deed to your new home. Keys. Map marking its location, along with every point of interest I can think of. Spending money to hold you over for a few months if you're careful. A list of the telephone numbers of my home and three others that have agreed to aid you, should the need arise. And a bag with the basic tools, kunai, senbon, and the like you'd need."

Haku-san smiles, her eyes warm and inviting. "Thank you, Namiki-sama. This means the world to us." Though their clan is known for ice release, I can't help but see the sun shining when they smile.

I rub my hand over Aya's lower back, hoping to remind her I'm right here.

"Namikis honour their word," Aya declares, her tone harsh and her gaze sharp.

That…

We started our morning with her on my tummy, as has been the case since we got back from Wave. She was happy, if sleepy. We went downstairs and had breakfast. She was happy and a bit flirty, nothing out of place. We went to wash up, the whole Namiki clan together. She was her usual charming self. Jiraiya checked something with my seal, finding nothing he was hoping to. She was disappointed, but not disheartened. Jiraiya asked to speak with her privately. She came out of the meeting annoyed, but she was otherwise fine—seeing as that's always the case, I thought it was normal. We ate grapes and popcorn chicken, she was flirty and happy and teasing me like nothing was wrong—her meeting seemingly forgotten. She talked to Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san about the meeting with the realtor, she was stoked… but there was already a tension building in her shoulders, wasn't there? After that I asked Yoshino-san to speak privately, and that leads us to her breaking down just after Hana left.

The meeting with Jiraiya. That has to be it.

Only, what did he say that has her short-circuiting?

"You'll have to forgive me for cutting this short. I have a previous engagement to attend," Aya tramples into my thoughts. "I assume you'll still want some time to rest and recover. When you're ready, contact me. There are quite some matters we'll need to discuss, after all."

"Of course. Thank you again, Namiki-sama."

Aya shoots to her feet and out of my reach, storming out of the restaurant with Michiko, Zeitou, and Eimi hot on her heels—even they look at a loss at Aya's sudden mood swing.

"I feel bad for the messenger," Zabuza-san gets out, shivering for some reason. I narrow my eyes at him. There's only one thing he could possibly be able to guess at, and Hokage-sama ordered everyone in the know to secrecy—that **can't** be it!

I get up, bow to our guests, and race after Aya.

By the time I catch up, she's entering the realtor. I silently curse being unable to body flicker—injured arms, yes, but every injury adds risks to body flickering, risks I am as yet unwilling to take. Her exchange with the man is terse, at best. She pays for the last house and the rights to the street itself, takes the deeds, and we leave with only the barest of farewells.

She leads us to the Hokage Tower, to Civil Administration on the ground floor. She offers only a single paper—not a word to accompany it. She takes the stub and we leave, Aya once again carving us a path with her murderous glare.

It isn't until we make it back to ou… to her home that it clicks. Dra… no mask, Tsume-san and Kuromaru are waiting at the gate. She looks conflicted, though no one else is apt to notice.

"Yes?" Aya demands, balling her fists even as she crosses her arms to show this isn't the sanest time to converse. She even shifts all her weight to her left leg, doing all she can to really show she's in _pissed off bitch_ mode. I come up behind her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling her slightly into me to break her stance somewhat.

"You heard, then." I blink, narrowing my eyes.

"Heard what?" I ask, studying both the bundle of nerves in my arms and the annoyed grumble of the Anbu Commander before us.

"Miwako and Satsuma are alive," comes the damning announcement. I agree with Aya—Jiraiya has the worst possible timing. "The Mist Blood Purge is over. We've sent a team to bring them ho—"

"FUCK THEM!" Aya belts out, her every muscle so tense I'm amazed she hasn't broken anything, or anyone, as yet.

"Love?"

"WHAT?!" she rounds on me, her arms trembling from the cocktail of emotions sweltering within her.

I lean in, even though I have to halfway squat to do so, and murmur into her ear, "I think you need a bath and a nap."

"Namiki Hitomi, I'm—"

"They say angry sex is pretty intense," I cut her off. Her cheeks are suddenly aflame, I know that isn't from anger. "I want to find out for myself."

"How…" she trails off, turning to me at last. "How… _upset_ are you?" I offer a sultry smile, my eyes half-lidded.

"Furious."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Dinner. An upscale restaurant with old fashion Japanese décor, an old money air about the patrons, and a maître'd that looks at us, the Namiki clan, like we're vermin—he's even less impressed with Lady.

This is the perfect setting, given Hiashi-sama and the four elders that make up the Hyuuga Council are here.

Aya, Michiko, Eimi, Zeitou, and I make our way over to them, with Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san right behind us and Ensui taking up the rear. We got through the regular greetings, though I don't so much as mumble a word, and we take our seats opposite the Hyuuga contingent.

"Just so we're clear," Aya begins, smiling a little too sweetly, "if I even suspect someone of harming Hitomi…" She leaves the threat hanging, though the tension in her being and the murder in her eyes say more than words ever would.

"I assure you, Namiki-sama, we will not dare harm your lover" Hiashi-sama soothes, his eyes hard as they flicker to his elders. The eldest of the group frowns ever so briefly, almost as if a thought ghosted over the canvas of his mind.

"Good. Then might I suggest we get down to business?" Aya presses. I smile, shimmying up to the low table and crossing my legs beside her. When she leans into me, her legs tucked the other way so she can come even closer, I wrap my arm around her waist. My smile turns into a grin as the Hyuugas' frown in concert, only Hiashi-sama himself maintaining his neutral poise.

"Of course. What I propose is this. In exchange for training my elder daughter, we would draw up a marriage contract for yourself and Hitomi-san," Hiashi-sama proposes, his voice smooth as silk. "This would, of course, be public information. An arranged marriage between two clans always is. As such, may well improve the standing of others like yourselves." Other lesbians and gays, no doubt.

"This will, of course, include the irrefutable fact that Hitomi is a Namiki, and as such will never again answer to you or your council?" Shikaku-san speaks up, no doubt wanting this to be airtight—no wiggle room for the Hyuugas to attempt anything against his princess.

"Such is the case in all marriage contracts, Nara-sama" Hiashi-sama assures him. "She would marry the clan head, there must never be any doubt as to her loyalty to Namiki-sama or to the Namiki clan."

"You would, of course, understand our desire not to set a wedding date?" Yoshino-san chimes in. "Aya-chan is, after all, but a child. I will accept no formal talks of wedding dates until she is at least sixteen." A warmth swims within me, knowing that even with her reservations, even with her hesitance at accepting Aya and I are, at least, smitten with each other, her main focus is supporting her daughter through thick and thin.

"That is both understandable and acceptable, Nara-sama," Hiashi-sama soothes. "Our focus tonight is to sketch a form for our nascent alliance, not to fine-tune it."

"What would you gain of this alliance?" Aya asks, just barely not glaring at the Hyuuga elders.

"There are many things mutual corroboration would offer us," Hiashi-sama begins cryptically. "Though the most pertinent would be a safe haven for our expecting mothers, our children, and our non-combatants, should another such calamity befall Konoha."

"You do realise that Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san will be going over that contract with a fine-tooth comb?" I intone, my gaze blank.

"Watch your tone, wh—"

I growl at the elder who dares speak to me like that. From the vibrations rippling through my arm, I guess Aya is reacting exactly the same way.

"Need I remind you," Shikaku-san drawls, wrapping an arm around Aya and laying his hand on my shoulder to calm us both down, "my daughter wouldn't fall for a lapdog. She is a wolf, and her falling for Hitomi signifies she's every bit as untamed."

"I never doubted," Hiashi-sama agrees. "Please forgive my council, they are unused to dealing with Namikis." I snort, shaking my head but keeping my tongue all the same.

"For the sake of transparency," Yoshino-san elbows in once again. "Who is paying who a dowry?"

"They will be paying us," I demand, successfully keeping a sneer out of my tone. "After all, we will live by Aya's standards and expectations. Not the scraps I've scraped up off the floor."

"You—"

"Additionally," I cut the decrepit old man off. "I will demand every last Ryou the Hyuuga clan robbed me of. Every salary you collected in my name. Every hospital bill you refused to pay for."

"That is quite e—"

"As well as a handsome compensation for your horrid treatment of me. It's the least you can do, given my sexuality now allows for your supposed leverage to sell me off like cattle."

"How. **Da** —"

"Wait outside, father," Hiashi-sama demands, glaring at the eldest of their contingent. The rude little shit bristles, chafing at the very notion of someone ordering him around, let alone his own son. "I had asked you to allow me to handle this. You clearly refuse to do so. Lest you wish these talks to devolve further and Hitomi to cast us aside and refuse us our alliance, you will do as I demand."

The man frowns, but makes to stand all the same. "Very well, Hiashi-sama."

"Take the others with you." A complaint forms on the others' tongues, but Hiashi-sama flicks his gaze to them, silencing them without a word. They stand, all four of them, and leave without complaint. Before they are out of earshot, "I apologize on behalf of my council. They will not be given any leeway in these talks in the future, I assure you."

I snort, shaking my head.

"I will see that your demands are met without fail, Hitomi-san. This will, of course, be unconnected to the marriage contract. Are any other stipulations desired?"

"I will change my name to Namiki Hitomi. I will officially move into the Namiki compound. And my slave collar will be removed. Immediately," I demand.

"That last I cannot offer. Only death removes the seal."

"Then these talks are at an end," I inform him, looking to Aya.

"Even the marriage contract is pointless if you are still a slave to their whims," she agrees, nodding.

"I know Jiraiya-sama and the Uzumakis will create the counter seal for that," Hiashi-sama argues, smiling. "Why insist this is a deal breaker?"

I narrow my eyes. He knew we'd react this way. He purposely sent away the council so he could speak freely.

He intends to use our connections to free as many of the cadet branch members as he can.

I murmur my suspicions to Aya, to see what she makes of this. I don't doubt she'd follow my lead, but it isn't my place to make these kinds of moves on my own.

"Try that stunt with the Uzumakis directly. We will _not_ be your pawns," Aya grinds out. Hiashi-sama briefly narrows his eyes. "If you're lucky, _that one_ will take a team of your slaves as her personal guard."

"I understand. I will press no further, Namiki-sama," he soothes. "Please. Tell me what I can do to ensure our friendly relations are not tarnished."

"Given my current emotional state, I believe it unwise to answer that," Aya admits, leaning a little further into me, a little deeper into my warmth. "See to Hitomi's demands, and do not fight us on the address and name change. We will discuss the matter further after our holiday."

"That is agreeable. As for my daughters…?"

"They may stay and train with us for as long as the Uzumakis find this desirable," Aya says, the unspoken threat that messing with the Uzumakis is that last thing Hiashi-sama and the Hyuuga clan at large want.

"Why are you so agreeable, Hiashi?" Yoshino-sama asks, her tone more curious than accusatory.

The Hyuuga patriarch smiles. Truly smiles. Warm as the sun on a bright summer's morning. "Because the last time I enjoyed a council meeting, Minato rose to power."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After we order and make some small talk—the Hyuuga council once again seated opposite our group—I start making my move.

"Hey, Yoshino-san? Did you find anything interesting for our holiday?" I ask, turning to the woman sitting beside me. I do make to speak loud enough that Aya can hear me without having to put in any effort.

"Actually, yes," Yoshino-san says, beaming. "Ensui mentioned Aya has a rather expansive home in Ryuuhou. More than enough space for anyone she wants to invite and plenty of space to train. There are three teahouses within a hundred metres, not to mention restaurants, theatres, exquisite clothing stores, plenty of master blacksmiths. The works."

"What do you think, Aya?" I turn to my love, taking her hand into mine to give her the power to do with this information what she will. "We'd be away from Konoha. We'd be more than comfortable. You could help me get back into shape. And we could continue everyone's training while we're there."

She reaches up with her left hand to cup my cheek, pulling me in for a kiss. Not a chaste one. A hot, steamy, making me hot in all the right places kind of kiss. I feel lightheaded by the time she pulls back, resting my forehead against hers.

"Thank you," she coos, a smile in her tone.

"Of course. I'd do anything for my girlfriend," I murmur, biting my lip to mask my nervous smile. I fail spectacularly, but that's beside the point.

"Girlfriend?" she murmurs right back, as if testing the word. Her eyes soften, tears welling up. I cup her hand with my own, begging her with my eyes to make this official here and now. To let the world know I'm no free agent, nor is she.

"You were negotiating to claim me as your wife. Doesn't it make sense if we're girlfriends first?"

"Mm," she noises, amused even though she's fighting not to cry—happy tears, if her nervous smile to match mine means anything. "This doesn't count as our first date."

"Of course not." The nervousness falls away, leaving only an undeniable sense of belonging, of being wanted. "That goes to the teahouse in Saimogo."

"Uh uh," she shakes her head, which only highlights the longing in her eyes. "You're taking me out in Ryuuhou. You're going to have to sit with daddy, and impatiently wait until I'm ready."

"I can live with that." The butterflies flutter about my tummy, but I find myself beaming, my face almost being split by the biggest grin of my life. "I want to pick out what you're going to wear."

"So demanding," she teases. She's never looked this radiant before, this delicious. "Alright. But then I'm dragging you out shopping for new clothes. I refuse to let you take me anywhere in your uniform."

"Now who's being demanding?" I tease right back. "Alright. We'll go shopping. The whole clan. But you know your mom's going to invite herself."

"Was there ever a doubt?" she laughs, her eyes lighting up.

It all comes crashing down. Her eyes are drawn, no longer smiling, no longer twinkling. Her lips form a thin line. Her cheeks no longer curled up. She's thinking about the _why_ of us leaving Konoha.

"I was already planning on stealing you away from Konoha," I tattle. She pulls back, her brow furrowed and eyes narrowed. "Your own fault. Spoiling me with your undivided attention for so long."

She isn't sure what to make of me, tilting her head to one side.

"I know you have a million things going on, but… my heart doesn't care. I like having you to myself. I like having your eyes seeing only me," I admit, my cheeks warming at the intimate confession.

She smirks, her eyes twinkling again. "Smooth talker."

I snort, shaking my head. I corral a stray hair, hooking it behind her ear. "I doubt that," I admit, frowning as I think back. "When I'm around you, I never find the words. It's like you take my brain and toss it in the blender, even when you're looking the other way."

"I've noticed," she laughs, shaking her head.

"Meanie," I tease, rolling my eyes.

"So articulate." I kiss her lips, just because I can. She sneaks in a few extra little pecks, showing me she enjoys how open I am with her, even in this setting. "So why were you planning it? I know there's more to it."

 _Sigh_. I didn't want to talk about this, love. "Because you need it," I murmur, cupping her cheek to stop her from turning away from me. Her first tear falls. "I want to take care of you." I leave the 'even when you fight not to show how badly it hurts' unsaid. Now just isn't the time.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I don't let her out of my sight the rest of the night, or the next day. Aya is… she's… she's holding up quite well, for having just found out the defining moment of her life was a lie.

She doesn't say a word, though. Not to anyone. Not even to me.

Then, around four in the afternoon, Cat comes calling with a summons from Hokage-sama. For Aya. Only for Aya. I storm out to the gate, and I tell Tenzou in no uncertain terms that he is to tell Hokage-sama that I will be there, and if he has a problem with it, then I will not allow Aya to come at all. He shrugs and body flickers out of sight—he'll deliver the message, but we both know he isn't taking responsibility for the repercussions.

Heaving a sigh, I turn and head back into the house, up into our room. Aya's sitting on the windowsill, gazing out at the gate. "We've been—"

"I know," she cuts me off, her tone wistful. "He wants to tell me the official version of what happened."

"Probably," I don't disagree, though I wish I could. I go to her, sit beside her on the sill. She doesn't move, barely breathing to show she's still alive.

"You were there." Sigh. I hate how insightful she is sometimes. "You and Hatake. Uchiha, too."

"Yes," I murmur. Her sense of smell was just barely kicking in back then, but I can't say I'm surprised she knew. "We are under orders not to t—"

"I don't blame you," she cuts me off again. I release the breath I didn't realise I was holding. "He's going to say it was a top secret mission, one even you three didn't know about."

"It won't hurt less." The words surprise even me, but it's the truth. Miwako-sensei was the only person back then that understood what I'd been through. And she abandoned me. She abandoned Aya. She threw us away like we didn't matter. No words will ever make up for that, no matter how well the lie is crafted.

"Konoha will see them as heroes." I nod, agreeing that's Hokage-dono's angle. "But Shimura won't care. He and the others will see this as the angle they've been needing."

"How are we going to handle this?" I ask. Has she been plotting this whole time? Is that why she so completely shut down? Or is she trying to be logical because it hurts too much to feel?

"I…"

"You don't have all the answers. Nothing wrong with that," I try to remind her that she's only human. She sighs.

"They have two children." Her cold monotone cuts deep. No matter that I understand, her pain is almost too much for me. "Hoshie just turned five. She looks just like me at that age. Talks just like me, too. Kenshin is two."

"You're a big sister," is all I say—all I can say without hurting her even more. She bobs her head, but doesn't speak. "So, Ryuuhou." She snorts, a laugh catching her by surprise.

"Ryuuhou…" she murmurs, the corners of her mouth curling upwards.

"Do you already have an idea what style clothing we're getting me? I mean, I've made amends since your pink and frills threat, right?"

Her shoulders shake, her gaze softening as she considers that. "Maybe."

"Only 'maybe'? I figure I could get some pantsuits. I've never been comfortable in a dress or skirt."

"Is someone trying to show they wear the pants in this relationship?" she teases, tapping her chin as if she's really considering that. I snort, shaking my head.

I cup her cheek, smiling as warm as I can, given the circumstances. "If it means they see us as a couple, I'm not against it."

Her cheeks are tinged a pretty pink, her eyelids hanging low as she studies my lips.

The words she needs to hear, that I yearn to say, are on the tip of my tongue. I open my mouth, coaxing them out into the world. "…" Not a syllable is formed. It isn't because I fear she'll turn me away, or that it's too soon, or that she won't reciprocate…

"I know," she says, her blush far more pronounced. "I feel the same."

I nod, understanding her all too well. We don't want to say it, because life has taught us that everything we love is taken away, leaving only scars to mark their passing. "Come. Hokage-sama needs a word."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"It's logical, that's how I know," Aya bites out, glaring at our Kage. "The scents I remember best are theirs, mom's, daddy's, and one other's. What else could it possibly mean?"

"So—"

"If you so much as insinuate that Mi went against orders, I will pack up my clan and move to the capital." Aya crosses her arms, shifting her weight. "And you can bet your ass I'm taking Miwako, Satsuma, and the kids along."

I wince. I'm not surprised she's put so much emotional distance between her and her parents, but it still hurts. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, tugging her until she lays against me.

"Very well, Aya-chan," Hokage-sama concedes, nodding gravely. "Jiraiya tells me that they should arrive tomorrow evening. I'll need to debrief Satsuma and Miwako, as such I'll need you to take—"

"Hoshie and Kenshin will come to Ryuuhou with us." I squeeze a little, trying to help her to calm down. "No, I will not calm down." Her tone is frosty, almost cryogenic, but there is no tension in her. None at all. It's as if she's at peace—furthest thing from reality. "I don't care what pretty lies you tell them to adhere to. Those. Two. Are. **Dead**. To me."

"Now, Ay—"

"I will not allow Shimura to get his claws into them."

"Hito—"

"She offers a kinder fate than is deserved," I shoot him down. He heaves a mute sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"They will need counselling. I will arrange three hour-long sessions a week. I am arranging the same for you two."

"I'll attend the day of your f—"

"I agree with him," I cut her off. She tenses, but she isn't fighting me—I give a gentle squeeze in thanks. "But only if it's Inoichi-san himself. And I will not be taking any missions until I feel Aya is ready."

"That's acceptable." You might want to hear me out until the end, before assuming I'm done with my demands.

"Additionally, we will need Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten to escort us to Ryuuhou and to remain with us for the duration of our stay. As well as Inoichi-san and Hana."

"And mom and daddy," Aya demands. I smile, grateful she has more people to keep her grounded in these troubling times.

"I'll pay for the missions. C-Rank for the Genin cells, B-Rank for the Naras, Inoishi-san, and Hana. For the duration of a month with plausible extension, if Aya and I decide to stay longer."

Hokage-sama folds his hands, covering the lower part of his face. His eyes are hard as stone as he processes everything. "One three conditions. One, you agree to take the Uzumaki clan and my daughter with you. Two, you agree to having Zabuza and Haku guarding you as their probationary mission. And three, that you allow for Yamanaka Mika to be the sensei to Aomaru, Minori, and Haruki's team."

"One is no issue. Three is no issue," Aya agrees without a second thought. I smirk, glad I'm starting to be able to predict her, if only every now and then. "And two… well, he should be more fun after some booze." I snort, my shoulder shivering no matter how hard I fight to keep the laughter in. "Deal."

"We will be leaving as soon as our business with the Fire Daimyo is wrapped up," I intone. "The missions will be paid in full upon our safe return. And given we are providing food and shelter, those clauses _will_ be negated."

"Of the Namiki clan less than a day," Hokage-sama grouses, shaking his head. "Aya. There will no doubt be a council meeting today. Please make no official statement about your parents' return. I will handle that myself. I will make sure Kakashi and Zabuza are informed."

Aya nods, craning her neck to peer up at me. I smile, caressing her cheek. "Come. Yoshino-san will no doubt want to do some shopping in preparation for the new arrivals and our holiday."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"So I figure we could use a vacation," Aya gushes, her eyes lighting up. "We've made the arrangements, and we'd love it if you and mom join us. Shika-nii, Ino, Chouji, and Ensui are coming, of course. And I arranged for my graduating class to come. Of course, you know we're dragging Naruto's clan and the Yukis as well. And it would be just adorable if uncle Inoichi and uncle Chouza would come, too."

"It sounds like a party! I'm in!" Chouza-san belts out, his laughter emphasising just how at ease he is. "I'll talk to Remi as soon as I get home, but I already know the answer."

"Agreed. Mariko has been begging for a vacation for some time. And a stint in Ryuuhou might be just the thing," Inoichi-san agrees. "Oh, Hokage-sama told me you agreed to Mika taking a team. Would it be alright if she came along?"

"Naturally," Aya agrees, beaming. "What about Santa? Wasn't he saying his girlfriend and him needed some down time?"

"This would be opportune, yes," Inoichi-san agrees. "Would you mind if our—"

"The new security system went online last night," Aya cuts him off. "All non-combatants of our clans that aren't coming along will be able to settle in without much fuss. In fact, I can offer each clan a house to themselves, if you prefer? I mean, it's not like we're hurting for space. And we still have a few days to make sure everyone is comfortable."

"That include the Inuzukas?" Tsume-san asks, Kuromaru barking out a laugh to show even he knows that's a rhetorical question.

"Of course. And the Hyuugas. That way we don't have to worry about much of anything. And if every clan stations as little as one shinobi to guard the entrance? It'd take a doomsday device to cause us to lose so much as a wink of sleep while we're gone."

"I doubt that'd be needed. We bought the houses on both sides of your compound," Tsume-san brags, puffing out her chest. "Our shinobi will be more than happy to lend a hand with anything."

"Oh, auntie! That's awesome!" Aya gushes, stealing the air out of my lungs. This might all be an act to get under the council's skin, but I cherish the joy she exudes all the same. "We just need to convince Hatake to get his act together, and we can call it the Canine Clans Quarter!"

Everyone—of our allies—gets a laugh out of that.

"Hmm?" Kakashi-san perks up, seemingly thinking about that. "Now that you mention it, it _is_ a quiet part of town. And it seems the neighbours are all friendly enough." That almost sends people to the floor, laughing so hard.

"If you're quite done? We're in the middle of a meet—"

"So anyway. We'll be leaving after my business with Mitsuzaka-san is done. I figure if mom, auntie Mariko, auntie Remi, and auntie Tsume team up, we should have everything ready before then. We have two lots completely empty, I figure we can turn one into a playground for the pups. And maybe we can turn the other into a community garden so if anyone wants to try their hands, they'll have fertile ground to work with?"

"Hmm? That sounds ideal. I'll run the idea by Mariko. She'll have a few ideas before long on both fronts," Inoichi-san promises. "And it would be perfect for our shinobi in need of a relaxing hobby."

"Alright, I'll leave that to you two to sort out. And maybe uncle Chouza could come up with a few healthy meal suggestions to keep their appetites up? I mean, it can't hurt to let them know we'll be there for them, no matter the extent of their injuries or of their needs."

Chouza-san strokes his chin. "I can't see to that personally. But I know just the woman for the job. I'll make sure she contacts the Inuzukas the moment she has what she needs. And the Akimichi clan will foot the bill. Our shinobi deserve the best, after all."

"Agreed," Shikaku drawls. "The Naras will provide the medicines. And, princess? If you're willing to rent us one of your farms?"

"Silly question, daddy. Three farms, one for the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichis, effective immediately. If you each send a team to scout all three, you can discuss among yourselves which suites whose needs best. We can discuss Ryou signs in six months, so you'll have enough time to invest in what you need without that looming over your head."

The best part? The council can't say this isn't pertinent dealings. After all, these meetings have been used for financial deal making in the past.

"Ooh. Daddy? The Naras make sealing inks, right?"

"Sorry, princess. That's Inoichi's branch."

"This is true. Yes, we provide a range of sealing inks in every colour desirable. You wish to secure a steady influx?"

"Naturally. The Uzumakis will need a healthy stock, after all."

"Not a problem. Given your generous terms on the farm, we could offer quite a discount. Naruto-kun, if you could provide us with a list of your needs?"

"No problem! You'll have that tomorrow!"

"Perfect. Oh, by the way. I am most impressed with how you set up the Namikis security system. I would like to hire your craftsmen for a similar job."

"Ooh. I appreciate the offer, but these things aren't cheap… I'll tell you what. We'll offer you a payment plan, interest-free. And I'll waive the maintenance fees for the first year. Sound fair?"

"More than!"

"Any chance I could get the same deal? Our laboratory could use a better security system," Shikaku-san bargains.

"No prob! With everything you guys have done for us? It's the least we can do!"

"Namiki-sama, we need to address this," the new Seitou clan representative elbows into the conversation.

"Address… what, exactly?" Aya asks, her gaze on the now fidgeting woman.

"The return of Namikis Satsuma, Miwako, and their two children."

"That is Namiki clan business," Aya snipes, crossing her hands and resting her chin on them. "This council holds no power over any decision made regarding them. As such, I will not entertain any such notion."

"Now, Namiki-sama, surely you understand that more Namiki children are—"

"And the second I have any say over your children, then this will be council business. Until then," Aya glares, just not sneering at the woman, "back off."

"You misunderstand the situation, Namiki-sama," another cuts in—the Ono clan representative. "It is a commonly known fact that Namiki children are volatile. As such, their education and safekeeping is well within the purview of this council."

"You misrepresent that facts, Ono," Aya sneers, her mood souring. "Namiki children are no more a danger than the Inuzukas', the Hatakes', the Hyuugas', the Harunos' or the Aburames' children. Why don't you try telling any of those clans that someone of this council has the right to butt into their upbringing?"

"None of those clans are at risk of an unintentional transformation," Ono-sama counters.

"Kurama clan and their once a generation prodigy that burned down their family home," Aya drones, glaring dully.

"Then you understand my concern."

"No. I do not. Speak plainly, Ono. The subtleties are obviously flying right over my head."

"I've personally tended to your victims, Aya. I am not—"

"Names," Aya demands.

"Confidential," he tries, his lips forming a thin line.

"Uchiha Itachi. He needed fourteen stitches from the outside of his left wrist up to mid-forearm," she drones, her gaze a thorough deadpan. "If memory serves, he wasn't surprised I bit him."

Ono-sama frowns.

"Yes. I remember. Now let's try this. Daddy. How many times have I tried to bite you, mom, or Shika?"

"Not once. No matter how long you were in either form."

"Hitomi. How many times have I tried biting you?"

"I've never seen you in Okami form. So, never."

"What's 'okami form'?" Naruto-kun asks, confused.

"Exactly," Aya says, nodding gravely. "You are therefore pushing a non-issue. This is Namiki clan business. Stay out of it."

"I believe you do not see the danger of that jutsu," Shimura speaks up. "I propose I take both children under my wing. I will train them and turn them into proper shinobi of Konoha."

I grab Aya's shoulder and shove her back into her chair. Even as she grows taller and hairier. Even as her face mutates into a wolven form, muzzle and canines included. Even as her fingers grow longer, as her nails grow sharper and bite into the desktop under them. I keep just enough pressure on her shoulder to keep her seated.

"You thread on thin ice, Shimura," I warn, shifting my attention to scratching behind the triangular ears now sitting atop Aya's head. "Listen well, as this will be your only warning. We have the infrastructure and the support needed to raise our pups. Any attempts to subvert this will be viewed as a direct attack. We have the security to ensure no one outside the Namiki clan comes into direct contact with our pups until we believe the risk is minimal. Any attempt to circumvent this will be viewed as a direct attack. We have the resources to support, feed, clothe, and train our pups and our people. Any insinuation to the contrary will be viewed as a direct attack."

I gaze in Shimura's direction, to let him know I'm talking to him. "Every attack will be met with lethal force. No exceptions. And if you think anyone not of our pack is safe from the clearly stipulated threat? I will remove my hand, and we'll see which fool gets mauled first."

Tsume-san and Kakashi-san grin, their amused laughter telling me they want me to release Aya, just to see what happens.

"Oi, Aya-chan. You in control?" Tsume-san asks. Aya grumbles and growls, making a bunch of seemingly meaningless noise. "I believe you, I just had to ask."

"I've seen her in this form most," Kakashi-san admits, looking quite amused. "She's as in control as she ever is." Aya growls, swatting his shoulder so fast all I see is a blur. Kakashi-san barely moves, so I know it's a playful swat. "You're only proving my point."

"Alright. Enough show and tell. I want my midget back," I tease, kissing her ear playfully. She whines out some sort of message—seeing as Tsume-san and Kuromaru burst out in howling laughter and Kakashi-san looks too amuse to be healthy, I'll assume it's not meant for innocent ears. "If you tell me what you said, I might just reward you when we're alone."

Like a switch is hit, she shrinks in on herself, reverting back to her true size. The black hair on her head stays the same, but her ears lower to the sides of her head and are slowly balding to reveal slightly pink skin.

She cranes her neck, looking up at me as her muzzle retracts and shows the little button nose and smiling lips I know. Her cheeks are decidedly pink—she's blushing. "I said, you're kissing my ear, not thigh."

I smirk, leaning in to murmur into her ear, "That's not the only place I like kissing you."

 _ **8-8**_

 _ **End Chapter 26**_

 _ **8-8**_

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry that this is taking forever. I still don't have electricity, and by extension no internet, at home. So I can only write/research/upload on the job. As you can understand, that means I can't work on these stories as consistently now. Either way, I'm hoping things get back to normal soon.  
**_

 _ **Any complaints about the speed things are getting done should be directed at Hurricane Irma. Thanks in advance.**_


	27. And Mate

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 27 – And Mate_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Standing before the mirror, I see a kunoichi staring back at me. Her hair and face covered, her forehead protector wrapped around her neck, like a choker. Her yellow-brown eyes seem distorted by the glasses perched on her nose. Her flak jacket is zipped up, all her pockets empty to show how much she cares about having it stocked.

I hate seeing her. Hate seeing her looking so ready for a mission.

"Hey." I turn, finding mom and Mi entering my room. "Hitomi and I were just conspiring against you. We thought you'd like to hear what nefarious plotting is going on behind your back." I smile, shaking my head in amusement.

Mom comes up behind me, loosening the band of my forehead protector for some reason. It's not like I'm attached to it, so I don't complain when she takes it off me. She unzips my flak jacket, taking that as well. Both are callously tossed onto my bed—that isn't like mom. Mi sits beside my things, as if to guard them from me. I'm not sure what to make of either of them.

"We don't want you going to this meeting dressed as a kunoichi," Mom explains, walking over to my closet and swinging the two doors with open with one fluid motion. "It'll show you plan on playing the game if you do. And being a kunoichi makes you miserable. So we're here to discuss something else that is suitable for meeting a daimyo, but shows you have one foot in retirement. Sound like a plan?"

"Mom, you—"

"Don't give into the knee-jerk reaction," she cuts me off. Since when does she know me so well? "Stop. Think. Plan. Do you want to be a kunoichi for a moment longer than needed?"

"No." That's a no-brainer. But since when does… Curious, I look to Mi, finding a smile in her eyes, even though her lips don't follow suit. "You told her?"

"It isn't hard to figure out, love," she says, her smile only glowing brighter. "I'll support you either way. But I want the choice you make to be the one you want it to be, not what the world needs of you."

I look from Mi to mom, my thoughts racing. Is she… is she really…?

"Tell me I'm wrong," Mi challenges, her pale white eyes boring into me, daring me to lie to her. "Tell me you don't want to focus on medical jutsus and never take another mission ever again."

I smile, my eyes watery. "I'm the alpha. You know I have to ta—"

"I'll support you and the clan," she promises, the earnest emotions in her eyes acting like the incoming tides against the sandcastle of my usual defences. "That's why I'm playing Hiashi, forcing him to give the money they rightly owe me. I can use that to support you. And if that runs out, I'll start taking missions again."

I look away from her, unable to face the begging in her eyes for me to let her take care of me. "You don't… don't have to."

A soft creaking tells of her standing up. Softer taps, steadily growing louder tells me she's coming to me. "It was you," she begins, taking me into my arms. I shake my head, wondering if I woke up in someone else's life this morning. "What the Soothing Touch Genjutsu showed me. It was you. Training with you, being with you. Every time I dispelled it, it was always you."

I snuggle into her warmth, grateful she already unzipped her flak jacket for me.

"But the last one? Just before you ended the jutsu? That's what convinced me I could only ever be happy with you."

"What was it?" I croak out, my voice suddenly thick with emotion.

"I came home. I don't know from where, I assume a mission or something," she begins peeling back the cloth that covers my head so she can comb her fingers through my hair. "You were in the kitchen. You were… making something, but you wore an apron with 'this cook bites' in bold letters. And a housedress. It was pink, I think. With butterflies."

"Nn?" I noise with a smile in my tone, begging her wordlessly to continue, both with her story and her idly scratching my scalp.

"You turned around, your eyes smiling as you saw me. And you called for the kids, telling them momma was home." Her voice is dreamy, as if she's telling me something so intimate, so private and precious to her, yet something she wishes she could shout from the rooftops. "There were two little girls who looked just like you. Twins, I think. They were hiding behind your dress and peeking out at me, like they were playing peek-a-boo. And a little boy, still in diapers. He waddled up to me, his face glowing from seeing me."

"I want that," she tells me, certainty in her tone like never before. "I want that illusion to become reality. Our reality."

"I see," I murmur, tears pouring down my cheeks. I don't understand why I'm crying. I'm happy. I'm so happy that she wants that, too.

"Do you want that?" I nod, unwilling to let any doubt linger—that's exactly what I want. "We could have it, love. We could retire as kunoichi. I'd take over the council meetings. You could manage the rehabilitation centre. We could take turns getting pregnant. Have a dozen little brats running around."

"Nn," I noise dreamily, grateful for how well she understands my heart.

"Then let's do it." It sounds wonderful in theory, Mi… but…

"I… I'm sca… scared," I admit, the fear so thick I can barely breathe. Everything I love is lost or tainted beyond repair, Mi. I can't… not with you… if… if I lose you… I… I don't know what I'd do…

"We both are." She squeezes me, letting me know she's here—that she'll always be here. "Scared shitless. That's why I want us to start planning for it. I mean, if you put your mind to it?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We enter the expansive sitting room, the tatami mats beneath our feet the softest I've ever felt. There are elaborate ink wash artworks scattered about the place, each telling an epic tale of some sort, I don't doubt. The low table seems to be made of the finest dark wood I've ever seen, though for the life of me I can't place the scent of it, and lacquered so exquisitely that I don't doubt only a master craftsman could have brought it to life in such a way.

This is a room meant for the elite—for men such as Mitsuzaka Tetsuhiko, the reigning Fire Daimyo.

I fidget, playing with the hem of my business suit skirt. It's a drag deep grey, but mom said it suites a business woman without fail. I feel out of place here, like I don't belong. Namikis are ill-suited for entertaining nobility, after all.

The door on the far side of the room opens, two servants entering to hold the double doors for the man barely more than a stride behind them. His kimono is so fine, so…

Fuck. Everything about this man screams _high life_ and _the servants will see to that_.

"Mitsuzaka-san," I greet politely, bowing from the hip with my palms on my upper thighs. The woman coming up just behind the daimyo looks about ready to pass out. "Forgive me for getting right to the point, but there are far more pressing matters to attend to."

"I disagree, Namiki-san. Seeing to my granddaughter is the highest priority to me," he soothes, his eyes warm as he regards Yasu. "But I am curious why you would think so. Please, sit with me."

He takes his seat, opposite us, and motions for us to join him. All of us sit to the low table, with Yasu-nee, Mi, and I closest to Mitsuzaka-san. "We're coming to Ryuuhou for a few weeks," I explain, tucking my feet towards Yasu-nee and leaning into Mi. Mitsuzaka's servants stare with wide eyes and low jaws. Poor things aren't used to Namikis. "So even though Yasu-nee's expressed no interest in returning permanently, this is a middle ground we've agreed works for all parties involved."

"I see," he murmurs, stroking his chin. I'm a little disappointed, really. I'd hoped he had a tuft of hair on his chin to stroke. Alas. No such luck. "Please, granddaughter. Speak of your reasons for not wishing to come home."

"I am home," she says, a warmth in her tone that's impossible to miss. She places her hand on my calf, tugging Sakiko into a hug just as I lay with Mi. "Here, I am not a means to an end. Nor am I a daimyo's treasure to plunder."

"Namikis do tend to grow on you," Mitsuzaka teases, laughter in his eyes. Clearly he misses the point she's making. His eyes sweep over our clan. From Sakiko, to Reika, to Michiko, to Zeitou, to Eimi and her brothers, to Kana and Satoko, to Keiko and Misato. He's unsure about the company I keep—his trust in the Namikis notwithstanding. "You are happy with them?"

"I've never been happier, grandfather." I smile, taking her hand and tugging her towards me. She moves her hand behind my back, leaning into me and kissing my temple.

"Very well. I wish to see where you are staying. I must know if my flesh and blood is afforded every comfort."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Yasu-nee shoots him down, her tone so neutral she might as well be discussing the weather. "Our den isn't meant for outsiders."

"Look at you, little wolf," I tease, running a finger along her jawline. "You're right, of course. But what does the pack say? Would Mitsuzaka-san be welcome in our den in Ryuuhou?"

As if scripted, everyone sniffs deep, studying Mitsuzaka's scent for plausible threat analysis.

"Only if he brings his wife," Kana teases, her smile evident in her tone. "And she brings those chocolate fudge things that lingers on her scent."

Reika laughs, no doubt covering her mouth with her hand. "There's no way milady would turn down chocolate."

A belting laugh erupts from Mitsuzaka, utterly morphing his face from the straight-laced man the world has come to know, to a lover of life that is about to brag about his beloved. "Shijimi would adore such an opportunity. Yes, that's exactly what we'll do. Would bringing a few guards along be a problem?"

"If you mean of your twelve guardians, that won't be a problem. As long as they are willing to join us in having a bottle or two."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Accusations are tossed every which way. The bum daimyo's harem blames him for his poor choices. The council blames Gato for his bad influence on the bum daimyo. The bum daimyo blames everyone but himself—including me—for his shitty attitude.

I rub my forehead, wondering at how loud they're being. I'd plugged my ears with chakra, and yet I hear them perfectly. Maybe it's because I'd already proven the guilt of each of them in turn, harem included. The 'royal bookkeeper' was quite thorough. Oh well, not my problem.

"ENOUGH!" Yasu-nee belts out, her fists balled at her sides and her face glowing red. Her glare zones in on the shit daimyo like she's about to explode on his ass. Is this why she demanded to attend this supposed hearing? She doesn't continue until everyone is silent.

"You claim that everything is everyone else's fault. How novel, _husband_ ," she saunters into the clearing in the middle of the circus circle we seem to have formed here in the council chambers. I make sure to keep a step behind her, to make sure she is as safe as can be—though I still wish she'd agreed to just going home and letting me handle this.

"Let me make this perfectly clear. When Gato offered you billions in exchange for full control of Wave Country, you only cackled with glee. When he offered you thirty million Ryou to have his way with me…" She wipes away the tears, refusing to let even me touch her. "Your only demand was to be paid in opium. And when he was done… after your council had their turn… after even his _men_ had their turn… you sold me off like a. **Common. Whore!** "

Hatake, of all people, body flickers beside her, taking her hand into his. She looks to him, tears streaming down her cheeks, but her eyes fierce and unyielding. He nods to her, wordlessly encouraging her to continue.

"So do not pretend your crimes are anyone's fault but your own," Yasu-nee grinds out, her face as if set in stone, heedless of the tears streaming down. "Be a decent human being for once! Own up to your choices! And _suffer_ … Suffer as I've suffered. For if you do not… I promise you, one word from me and the Namiki, Hatake, and Inuzuka clans will hunt you like the beast you are. And we will mount you like that bear you claim to have slain, hanging your rotting corpse in our sitting room where I can tell the tale of how I drove my tanto into your open mouth."

I nod, agreeing completely with her. The second she says she wants that piece of shit gutted, even if I'm barefoot and pregnant, I'd hunt his ass down and rip his fucking head off.

"Now, now, Yasu-chan. You assume there'll be enough left of him," Hatake teases, his tone light and airy.

Yasu-nee snorts, the pain in her eyes easing at last. "True. My little sister would never leave him in one piece," she agrees. "Aya. As head of our clan, I ask that you speak on my behalf should my input be needed."

"Without question," I assure her, walking up to her undefended side and wrapping an arm around her waist. "Hatake. Take her home?"

"My pleasure." Not missing a beat, he sweeps her off her feet and body flickers out of the room. She'll either be grateful to be out of here, or she'll be complaining about being able to walk on her own—I'm guessing a little of both.

I'd better have a chat with her about whatever the hell just happened with Hatake.

"This court will hear Tazuna's side next," zombie-sama announces, no doubt itching for this hearing to end. I wonder if I can convince them to let me be that shit daimyo's executioner.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Mitsuzaka-san just left with Shimura, daddy, and Hokage-dono, leaving us in the council chambers. We've officially been dismissed, but—of course—I'm here on clean up duty. So I'm sealing all the miserable shits I had to unseal, and I have to do it in front of a bunch of ignorant shits from the council who keep staring at me, their eyes shouting, 'Mine!'

I huff, but continue seeing to my duties.

When the last is sealed away, I seal the scroll into my glove and plop down onto the ground. I've had a long, draining night, and this hearing being filled with even more petulant whiny shits, even when compared to the worst of the council meetings, isn't helping. I'm tired. And I'm annoyed. And I'm so done with having to end lives in order to protect lives.

Still. On the bright side, there's little chance Mitsuzaka will need to hear another word to make up his mind. His shit-for-brains nephew—who married Mitsuzaka's granddaughter?—is clearly guilty of every crime I accused him of, and then some. And with Tazuna, Hatake, Yasu-nee, and Momochi corroborating the dates of the bookkeeping entries and their stories so seamlessly lining up? There's no chance of this going awry.

That means, my job is done. Well, jobs—I can't wait to hear Shimura's reaction!

So, now to focus on getting my pack and entourage to Ryuuhou. I'd already explained my clan about the Okami jutsu, that pups can't control it very well, and that the two emotional triggers that lead to unintentional transformations are fear and anger. I'd clearly explained that they are to leave Hoshie and Kenshin to me and Hitomi, should they transform—at least until they've built up a healthy relationship with the pups themselves.

We should be ready. For everything but dealing with Miwako and Satsuma, that is. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to face those two.

I unseal a chocolate bar, tearing into the wrapping and biting off a chunk. I've been busy dealing with everyone else's shit. Again. I'm tired of outing others' fires. Yet, without fail, I'm going to have at least a few more scenes to cope with today alone.

I feel her eyes on me. I turn, finding Mi standing quietly in a corner, two on-duty and masked Ops discussing something with her. Her eyes smile, though her face is as a mask.

She wants to take care of me, of my clan, of my pack. She's showing me she's able and willing to support me mentally, emotionally, financially, and as a life partner. She figured out what makes me miserable—though I still have no clue how she did that. And she clearly wants me to retire, perhaps as much as I want it.

It's… confusing.

She knows what I am, yet she doesn't shy away. She doesn't know what I've done, but as an Op, I don't doubt she's done the same or worse. Even if she hasn't, she doesn't strike me as the kind of woman that would care about that—I hope.

Oh so confusing.

She wants me. She needs me. Not as I present myself to be, but as I truly am—sharp and broken edges and all. It's as if all she wants to do is to kiss my every scar, to offer me a happy memory potent enough to counter the taint that marked me in the first place.

And somehow, in the midst of all this confusion she brings me, she also brings me peace.

Peace.

Mi nods to the Ops, walking over to me. There's a tension in her shoulders telling me she's worried about something. She sidles up behind me, sliding down the table and scooting me over just enough to make space for her.

"When things calm down, we need to talk," she murmurs, rubbing her nose against my ear. I nod.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Thank you for coming, Aya-chan," Hokage-dono greets me, motioning for me to come in and shut the door. In his office are only himself, Mitsuzaka-san, Shimura, daddy, and now me.

I take a seat beside daddy on the two-seater, not fighting him when he wraps his arm around me protectively. "How can I help?" I ask, actually curious.

"It would seem you have saved the people of Wave," Mitsuzaka-san asserts, not seeming to care what anyone else makes of my deeds.

"Just as it would seem she stole the deeds that should be in Konoha's hands," Shimura butts in.

"I believe Mitsuzaka-san wishes to discuss something with me. Kindly be silent," I snipe, glaring at Shimura.

"Now, now, Aya-chan," Mitsuzaka teases, his eyes and tone playful. "No need to be so formal. Please, call me Tetsuhiko."

"Alright, Tetsuhiko-san. I assume I've proven my case?" I ask, grinning. Shimura wouldn't miss the implications if he was in a coma.

"Beyond the shadow of a doubt," he agrees. "As such, your promised reward for your heroic deed, your immediate and incontestable cooperation with me, and for offering my granddaughter everything she could possibly need in these troubled times."

Daddy runs his hand over my head, peeling back the cloth. People have a habit of stripping me in public. Still, I like it when he combs his fingers through my hair, so I don't complain… out loud.

"I would have you and yours as my guests, Aya-chan, for a banquet in my home," he announces, his voice smooth as silk but his eyes every bit as playful. "There I shall reward you as you deserve. And please, do dress for the occasion."

"I'll be sure Yoshino takes her shopping," daddy assures Tetsuhiko-san. "Between her and Hitomi, I doubt my princess will put up much of a fight."

"Is that so?" I narrow my eyes at Tetsuhiko-san, wondering what he's grinning about. "Hitomi-san is your lover, then."

"Yes," I agree without a second thought. "We made it official last night at dinner." Or was it the night before?

"Wonderful. Do be sure to bring her along. And don't you dare present yourself as anything other than you are. Akemi-nee would never forgive me if you did." I smirk. Namiki Akemi, my maternal grandmother.

"I knew you had dealings with Namikis. You understand our ways too well."

"Oh, you're too kind, Aya-chan. Please, if there's ever anything you need, contact me. Shikaku-san has my direct number."

"I will. And I'll be sure you get our number here and in Ryuuhou, so you can contact us whenever the mood strikes you."

"I'd be careful with that. Shijimi is quite the chatterbox if she gets started." I smile, looking forward to meeting her.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Closing my eyes, I breathe them in. Even with my head lain against Mi's chest, sans flak jacket, I smell them so keenly. My family, my pack. My people.

Mi combs her fingers through my hair, having just loosened my French braid. She finds every little knot, gently tugging them into a uniformity of compliance under her diligence.

I hear things. People talking. The soft clanking of sake saucers, punctuated by cries of 'kanpai' and 'to our midget'. No matter that I hear, I don't listen—I don't care enough to. I know Mi holds me, her hand on the small of my back, moving in small circles.

Her heart beats, steady and strong. Her chest heaves with her breathing, shivers with her warbled talking.

Intellectually, I know we're celebrating—that we won some victory or other over something or other. All I care about, is the mountain flowers body spray that lingers on her skin, that clings to her.

I curl up into a little ball in her lap, with two fistfuls of her shirt clutched in my hands like a lifeline. I don't even care that my skirt is hiking up higher and higher, or that the fabric will be so wrinkled that I'll be a scruffy mess the when we leave… wherever _here_ is.

All I care about, all I truly understand, is: "I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore."

"Good," Mi encourages, raising her saucer for some reason.

"I'm serious. No more."

"I understand. I appreciate it. And I'm glad we agree that you should be focusing on things that make you happy." She leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. "And if you need something like _that_ done, you are going to let me handle it. Agreed?"

I nod, unsure if she even knows what has me like this.

"I heard about an incident in the Shimura compound." I pull back, wondering what she's even talking about. "Oh? You didn't hear? Six of his clansmen were murdered."

"News to me," I admit, shrugging and laying right back down.

"Oi, Hitomi. What's that about murders?" Momochi asks, his voice carrying through the room.

"Shimura compound. Six dead. No evidence to be found. No screams reported. Nothing," Mi explains. "The two Ops I was talking to were asking what Aya was doing last night, between seven and midnight."

I snort, shaking my head.

"That's not how the midget works," Momochi announces. I can almost hear him shrugging, for some reason. "She'd either purposely leave so much evidence that you'd have to be stupid to believe anyone but her did it. Or she'd make it look like an accident." There's logic in that. But I'm far more likely to make it look like someone else did it.

"True," daddy agrees. "But Danzou won't care. He'll think it's either her, or one of us that did it."

"Che," Momochi snorts. I turn, studying the vindication in his eyes for a moment. Yuki pours him another, and together they raise their saucers to me in silent salute.

"I knew he'd be more fun after some booze," I tease, lying down. It isn't hard to figure out, really. It also doesn't change that I'm just not in the mood to deal with people.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"I'm starting to see a pattern," I snarl, glaring daggers at everyone in the council chambers. We were, once again, called together for an emergency meeting. "You ignorant shits don't know where to draw the line. This investigation is Anbu territory. Unless every council member present is a Anbu Operative, an Anbu Captain, or the fucking Anbu Commander, you are wasting my damn time!"

"N-now, Nam—"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" I bellow, refusing to hear the bullshit excuses. "Let me spell it out for you, Nariaka. You are a civilian. You have no say in shinobi matters. The victims are all shinobi. Shinobi matters are none of your fucking business. Furthermore, crimes against shinobi is Anbu jurisdiction. So not only is this none of your business, this isn't even mine! Read a fucking book before calling meetings for stupid shit!"

"You seem rather emotional, Namiki," Shimura starts his shit.

"Gee, I dunno. Maybe that has to do with some piece of shit insinuating he'd kidnap my siblings before they set foot in this village," I snipe. He gazes at me, every bit as stoic as ever. "Don't come begging sympathy from me and mine."

"Now isn't the time, princess," daddy chastises me. I snort, shaking my head. "But, she does have a point. This is Anbu jurisdiction. Nariaka-sama knows this. And more importantly, given Hokage-sama isn't at this meeting, I will assume he hasn't been made aware of it. Given he already declared martial law, I'm going to assume the person that called this meeting is looking for trouble. Now."

The door slams open, twelve Ops pour in, spreading out to ensure every angle of the room is under their watchful eyes, under their control.

"I assume I have your attention," Hokage-dono announces his arrival, entering with his advisors. "Tell me, Nariaka-sama. What is the punishment for ordering Anbu Operatives to not inform the Hokage of anything?"

The room grows deathly silent. Apparently no one remembers such trivial things—or they assumed he really is just an old softie that won't harm a fly. Fools.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Hokage-sama," Zabuza drawls. "But that would be an automatic death sentence."

"Exactly." Two Ops flying forwards, taking Nariaka into custody before he can even blink. "And just your luck. Mitsuzaka-dono is in the village. So he has agreed to hear your case. Immediately." The ass doesn't even get to meep anything out before he vanishes with the two holding him.

"Now. If there is nothing else to discuss?" Hokage-dono demands.

"There is Namiki's insistence I—"

"Mi we're leaving." I stand, tapping Hatake on his shoulder. He nods, understanding me perfectly and falls in step behind me. "Sarutobi. You're being played. Check Nariaka for a mind control jutsu. It'll be subtle, like a whisper that changed his mind for him."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I know Shimura's style. If he's being that obvious, he has a reason. So I take my group—which now includes Zabuza—straight to South Gate. I march right up to the two guards. "I'm expecting a group to come through. Namikis, four in total. Names: Miwako, Satsuma. And two minors: Hoshie and Kenshin."

"I see. You wish to pre-clear them?" the one that was smart enough not to stare at Yasu last time asks. I nod. "Shouldn't be a problem. Your parents are registered already, but the two are new. You'll need this form." He offers a single form—the same one daddy had filled in for me. I fill it in immediately, filling my name in as their guarantor.

Once I'm satisfied—if annoyed I don't know what kanji were used for my siblings' names—I hand it to the guard. "I'll be waiting outside, to ensure only the ones I intend will be admitted."

"A sound decision," he agrees, motioning me through. I nod to my group, walking out of the gate, stopping fifteen metres outside of Konoha.

I sniff, turning this way and that to see if I can spot any trouble. Shimura is many things, but I know he makes no move unless he intends to succeed. "Michiko."

"I got them," she answers immediately.

"Yeah. Group of four. Three have the same chakra signature as yours, more or less," Zeitou confirms.

"Nn," Mi noises. She wraps an arm around me, pointing over my shoulder to show me where they're coming from.

A group of four. An Anbu team should be with them. But Shimura's proven beyond the shadow of a doubt he has connections in Anbu. "Others in proximity?" I demand.

"None. Not that I'm surprised. The female is at least as strong as Hatake," Michiko says. I nod, but something feels off. "There are no seals on them. No chakra usage. No active illusions. Nothing I can sense." Obviously she understands my hesitation.

Zeitou and Mi both confirm Chiko's findings, but the niggling suspicion doesn't go away. It's as if we're being watched.

We stand, and we wait. Nothing seems to be happening, even as a dot appears on the horizon. That dot grows into a blob, then into two squiggly, mushy things. I sniff, the scent of three Namikis wafts in the wind, along with a medic—the Yang release in his scent drowning out every other element.

"No change," Chiko updates me. "Nothing underground either."

I nod, my eyes glued to the forming silhouettes. I don't know what to expect, what to hope for. Or how to feel for that matter. I want to be happy, that my family is coming home—but I'm so fucking pissed.

"Aye-nee~eeeeee!" a little voice calls out from the distance. One of the silhouettes breaks away from the group, running at me as fast as she can. Hoshie, no doubt.

Knowing what she needs—what we both need—I raise my head to the heavens and howl. Four howls rings out from behind me, matching mine, echoing my desire for our pack to be whole.

"AooooooOOOOOOOOO!" two howls come from the distance. One so young, so high-pitched, that it could only be my little sister. The other gets ignored.

By the time I look back down, a mini me is almost on us. Her head almost reaches my navel. Her black, wild hair reaches her neck. Her brown-yellow eyes are filled with tears, and her arms wide to show exactly what her heart desires. I'm changing her out of that earthen brown peasant's kimono the second I get her home.

I don't even think about it, I lean in and scoop my baby up, taking her into my arms for the first time. "Welcome home, little sister," I murmur, kissing her brow over and over again.

"Aya-nee," she cries, clutching my shirt as if she can barely believe this is real. She buries her nose in my neck, breathing me in—just as I smell her hair so I can burn her scent into my memory.

"Hoshie! What have I said about running off like that?!" I glare at the… _woman_ coming with my brother on her hip.

Hoshie closes in on herself, the shouting obviously too loud for her liking. Miwako either doesn't realise, or knows and is punishing her.

"I can hear you just fine, Miwako," I drone, my gaze blank. The woman freezes. Obviously she is hoping for more than is logical. "Come," I beckon to them, "I want to meet my little brother."

"Your hands are a bit full, love," Mi teases. I turn to my lover, my sanity, finding all I could possibly need in her warm gaze. She leans in, meaning to show off—I can't find the will to deny her.

We kiss. Soft but needy. I feel her smoothing my jacket collar, as if making me presentable—I'm pretty sure the pups won't care.

"You're Hitomi-nee," Hoshie manages, awe in her tone. Mi pulls back—the lack of her warmth making me whimper—and scoops the bundle out of my arms.

"That's right. Aya just calls me Mi, though."

"Nee! Nee-nee!" Kenshin calls out, reaching out for me. I take him from _that one_ , spinning him around. He lets loose a cackling laugh, his face lighting up. He's so tiny, even the little hands cupping my cheeks as he kisses my nose.

"It's nice to meet you, too, little brother," I coo, beaming as bright as I can—he's wearing a peasant's kimono, so it's bit strained. "Come on. The rest of the pack is waiting to meet you."

I lead the pack into Konoha, up to the guards. He hands the woman the form, which is filled out quickly. I seal the stub away, steering the others towards Hatake and Zabuza—who seem to be walking toward us for a reason.

"Hey, midget. We need to get indoors. Hokage-sama imposed a curfew," Zabuza complains. I roll my eyes, but don't comment. "Kakashi's taking 'em to report in."

"Works for me. You staying with us tonight?" I ask, curious how this will work.

"Meh," he shrugs, not caring either way. Playing hard to get? Please. I can wrap you around my little finger any time I want.

"We have sake."

"Marry me?" I laugh, shaking my head in amusement. "Killjoy."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Another sleepless night—the nightmares are only getting worse. Only now, I remember them all. I remember them, because I lived them. Memories I'd buried so deep inside me, hoping to the gods I could forget them forever.

Only these nightmares… they don't care if I'm asleep or awake. I barely have to close my eyes and I see them.

Naruto bound and gagged, bleeding from a gash on his head, hidden behind a dumpster. Kanatsu standing on a branch looking like every demon in every hell is trapped in his mind. Ito dodging every attack he can, before finally succumbing to the drugs and breaking more bones than he's comfortable with. That shop owner throwing a brick meant for Naruto, before I fuck him up.

But the later it gets, the more into well-worn nightmares we get. Like sitting in mom's windowsill, day after day, peering out at the cold, cruel world and hoping mama would come home to me. Like papa tucking me in that last time, kissing my brow and telling me I won't even get the chance to miss him—it took almost a month for me to realise mama was crying because he wasn't coming home.

The week before mama's last mission. She was so erratic, all over the place. Her face was set in stone—something she only did when she was too emotional to show anything. She kept going over this one scroll, over and over. But she was unable to sit still. Pacing, always pacing, and muttering papa's name under her breath. I remember thinking that mama was going crazy, but I couldn't make any more sense out of it than that.

Figuring sleep won't come, I get out of be—

"What's wrong?" Mi asks, grabbing hold of me and tugging me back down onto her tummy. I don't answer, I don't want to. I refuse to put into words the scenes flashing before my eyes. "Talk to me," she demands as gently as she can—it still sounds like a demand either way.

"I'm done, Mi," I manage without a stutter. It takes considerable effort, though.

"I know. We talked about that, remember?"

"You don't—"

"I do understand," she cuts me off, already scratching my scalp to calm me down. "You want out. No more missions. No more killing. No more demands. No more manipulation. Nothing. You want to just be. You want to make your own choices, make your own way."

"Mm," I noise, nodding. I don't know how she reads me so well, but I'm not complaining.

"You don't want me to take any more missions," she guesses. I nod, agreeing that she's right. "What if I meet you halfway and only help out during invasions and supporting Anbu from the shadows?"

"No leaving Konoha?"

"Not without you to keep an eye on me," she agrees. I blink, going over the offered information.

"Define 'helping from the shadows'."

"Bugging you to extend your rehab centre's clientele to Anbu Ops. Getting the Uzumakis to train me in the Sealing Arts so I can make whatever seals they might need. Taking your team and training them like they're Ops so I'll have solid backup should we need to patrol the village. Discussing us being Dragon's eyes should there be an invasion—after all, it'd be me, Michiko, and Zeitou, so we'd be able to rotate and keep everything within a certain range under surveillance. Talk to Hana and Inoichi-san about ways to help rehabilitate Ops, maybe figure out some simple katas they can use to maximize their uninjured limbs while still exercising their injured ones."

"You're serious."

"And you're having nightmares, even with me here." I grumble, wondering how in the hell she even knows that. "Yes, love. I'm serious."

I nod, turning so my ear is lain on right over her stomach.

"You mean everything to me," Mi continues, scratching my scalp. " _Everything_."

I nod again, trying to lose myself in the symphony her body plays for me. The warbling of her digestive track, the beating of her heart, her lungs sucking and blowing air about.

"Promise me." I look up at her—all I see is a blur of muted and dark colours, but I know my nose is pointing at her. "I'm going to do everything I can to make your life better, Aya. But you're good at hiding the root of the problem. Promise me you'll tell me if you need something, anything. I don't care if it's far outside what I can offer, tell me anyway. Promise me."

I don't move, I don't breathe. All I can do is try to wrap my head around those words, the pleading—if not begging—in her tone, her undeniable need to be my everything.

She cups my cheek, rubbing my cheek slowly over and over again. "You give me everything I could possibly want," she presses. When I don't react, she flips us over, so she's on top. She snuggles between my thighs, propping herself up on her elbows so she's nose-to-nose with me. The dark of our room, the intimacy of our bed—it all pales in comparison to the longing, the needing, in her gaze.

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me." Unwilling to fight the urge, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and claim her lips. Kiss by kiss, the aching in me subsides, until all I feel is the need to be with her, until all I want is to feel her warmth seeping into every nook and cranny of my being.

"Promise. Me. Aya," she demands, sneaking in the words between interspersed kisses trailing down my jawline, down my neck. "Promise. Me."

Needing to taste her kiss again, I take a fistful of her hair and pull, gentle but firm, to tilt her head back slightly. Our lips meet, her needy little moan tearing through me, ripping through my defences.

She pulls back, staying within my limited field of vision. "Promise me."

I nod, fighting to catch my breath. "If you promise… to be here… when I… wake up."

"Every morning I can," she meets me halfway. Somehow, even though she isn't giving me exactly what I want, she gives me something better—a promise she can keep, a promise she'll do everything in her power to keep.

My hands fumble with her simple tank top, my fingers finding warm, bare skin. I trace up and down her every muscle, the little bumps marking her vertebrae. She slips her head through, letting me undress her without a fuss. She even slips her arms out of it, tossing the offensive thing aside.

"Alright," I murmur, running a single finger down her neck, down her chest, like an elaborate dance. She shivers as my fingertip grazes her nipple. "I promise. I'll talk to you. Only you, though."

"About everything?"

"I…" The earnest begging in her eyes stops me from saying no on instinct. "About everything I'm allowed to."

"Even when it hurts?"

I nod. You make it hurt less, Mi. Of course I'll come to you when it hurts. "Especially when it hurts."

"Even your super-secret plans no one else can hear about?"

"Someone's being demanding again," I tease, pulling her in for another kiss. She doesn't fight me, even when I nibble on her lower lip. "I can't promise that."

"But you want to?"

I've wanted someone that I can talk to about these things for year. **Years**. Of course I _want_ to. "Yes."

"Why can't you?"

Because if you look at me… and you see a monster… I'd die.

"You're scared." I nod, closing my eyes. "Of what?"

"I… I can… I can't… Mi, please…" You don't know—can't know—the things I've done, the plans I've made, the crimes I've committed to keep Naruto safe and sane. You'd never look at me with those eyes again, those eyes that tell me I'm beautiful, those eyes that make me feel like I'm worth protecting.

"Aya." Her thumbs trail up and down the sides of my face, taking my tears as they try to give me something soft and soothing in their place. "I already know. About the bodies found in Training Ground Forty-Four."

Breath stills. I mentally brace myself, knowing that if she connected those to me, she'll know ab—

"And I know those mental patients were your pet projects," she confirms my worst nightmare. "I knew from the second I heard about them. What, with them being Naruto's more avid troublemakers?"

A shaky breath punctuates the sobs wracking my world. I grab her shoulders, pulling her to me, needing to feel her like never before.

"I know," she murmurs over and over and over, kissing me any and everywhere she pleases. "I know, love. And you're still the best thing that happened to me."

"I… I you," I mumble, hoping to the gods she can make sense of that.

She pulls back, hovering over me, nose-to-nose once again so I can see her eyes, see the raw emotions…

So I can see the look she gives me… the look that makes me feel beautiful… the look that tells me I'll always be worth protecting in her eyes.

"And I you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Nn!" I complain, jerking away, looking the other way. Stupid fucking sun is in my eye. It's too early for that asshole, he needs to go away. Permanently.

Laughter teases my hearing, soft and throaty. Something under me shivers, quakes. I groan, knowing Mi's too damn entertained with me. I curl up on her chest, her arms snaking around me as a soft, soothing noise reaches me.

"Sleep." I nod and noise, agreeing with her completely. It's too fucking early!

Sometime later, I feel it. A dancing fingertip going from my shoulder blade, to my neck, to my cheek, tapping my nose, kissing my lips, and right back down. The gentle touch ghosts over my skin, lower and lower, until my butt cheek is cupped, squeezed—as if I am putty in her hands for her to play with, to shape and mould.

"Nn~nnnnnnnnnnn." I love how she knows to play with my body, how she makes me feel alive.

Fingertips gently tease my thigh.

"Someone's still in the mood," I murmur, feeling myself warming, moistening, preparing for whatever naughty things she comes up with this time.

"Hmm? In the mood for what?" she teases, knowing exactly what she's doing to me.

"We need to—"

I'm silenced with a kiss, hot and steamy and needy and showing the hunger in her only I can sate. The next thing I know, she's on top and searing kisses are pressed to my every inch of exposed skin.

"Just lay back," she murmurs, her sultry tone sending a shiver down my spine even as her teasing touches and enticing kisses explore every bit of me.

I reach for my glasses, only to hear them clattering on the floor as her fingers touch me in the most intimate way. "Ooh. I'm not the only one in the mood." A soft sucking sound is accentuated by an appreciative moan.

My whole body reddens, blushing so completely. "Meanie."

"Just showing you that it's morning… and I'm still here." Is she ever. "I you."

Before an iota gets passed my lips, my hot little button is under a warm and wet attack, teasing a surprised yelp from me.

"Gods, woman. Wake me up like this any time."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 27_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Luckily, I have a few chapters written out. I'll try to upload one every so often so you guys can get your Solidarity fix ;)  
_**


	28. Hitomi: My Choices

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 28 – Hitomi: My Choices_**

 ** _Namiki Hitomi Chapter_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We arrive at the expansive gates of Ryuhou just as the sun is highest. It's warm for it being so late in autumn, but not so warm that we're sweating for it. The stone walls are easily fifty metres tall, the gate itself set in an alcove between two drum towers. It feels like they're daring people to attack the city—bloodshed being the only reward for trying.

Kakashi-san walks just ahead of our group, showing the guards that he's the spokesperson—as agreed. He makes some small chat with them, showing our travel documents and the like.

While he's busy with that, my attention is on Aya. She's busy with the kids, answering the inevitable questions, dealing with Kenshin's mini tiffs like it's the most natural thing in the world. Though it does become far more obvious we're 'different' now, given only the Namikis are wearing a uniform like Aya, covering our faces and hair. Adding that we're also the only ones no wearing a forehead protector and/or flak jacket, and adding the kanji for 'wolf' is embroidered into our clothes? It's easy to pick us out. Easy to see we're one pack.

Yet, that captivates me least. No, it's the way she flows from one conversation to the next, keeping each reply on the level of the child she converses with. I don't know if I have that in me—I've never been around too many children at once. She makes it look effortless.

"You're in love with her," Satsuma-san says, his gaze and tone curious. I felt him studying how Aya and I are the whole way here, not that I care.

"I wouldn't let her find out you're butting into her life," I warn him seriously. He raises an eyebrow, curious what I'm getting at. "She's far from forgiving the pair of you for what happened."

"You're purposely not answering me."

"Correct," I drone, turning and walking towards Yoshino-san—she's the last one I needed to speak with to get my rudimentary plan in action. She's busy studying her daughter as well, a quiet smile in her eyes telling me all I need to know of her emotional state.

"You were right," she says, slipping her forearm around my elbow. "She's so at ease out here."

"Nn," I noise, bobbing my head. "To be fair, she and I talked out the more… troubling misunderstandings."

"I see." A smile in her tone. "Thank you, Hitomi. I'd hate to think where she'd be without you."

"You're too hard on yourself." I shake my head, smiling as Aya scoops Hoshie up and spins with both her younger siblings. "She's the one that demanded you and Shikaku-san come along. She trusts you."

"Gods, I hope you're right, Hitomi." Her grip on my elbow tightens. "When I heard about Miwako and Satsuma, I was so sure she'd explode on everything with a pulse."

Reika takes Kenshin from his eldest sister, holding him protectively and beaming at him. Hoshie and Sakiko take turns playing peek-a-boo with him. I find myself comparing the scene to the illusion. They might not be our pups, not in that sense, but the glowing warmth in Aya's gaze shows me she's content with the slice of paradise we're afforded.

"So what do you have planned for her?" Yoshino-san asks, giving me a gentle squeeze to tug me back to our conversation.

"That depends. We have the basics we'd need sealed, but I want to make the place liveable." I furrow my brow, thinking about it some more. "I mean, if things get too much for her in Konoha, I want her to know there's somewhere I can take her."

Yoshino-san noises appreciatively. "Would you mind if Shikaku and I come up with something?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to do something with her. Just the two of us."

"Why would I mind?" I ask innocently.

"I'm sorry. That must have sounded odd," she murmurs, shaking her head. "It's just… I can't decide which one of you is more protective of the other."

"Good point," I concede, amused. "Well, if you need any tips? She hasn't started with elemental training. She hasn't summoned any of the wolves. She's struggling with Sound Release training. She'll want a second opinion on every room we decorate. And that's not even touching on her needing something fitting for a royal banquet."

"I see."

"Mm. And if you're looking for something more low key? She hasn't learned to play her flute. She struggles with lighting a gas burner, and fire in general. She can't read a musical note to save her life. And she hasn't really had any time to wrap her head around being a big sister, no matter how naturally it comes."

"Thank you."

"If you need something for Shikamaru, she's never learned to play shogi. He could teach her. And she quite enjoys cloud watching. For Shikaku-san, she isn't against fixing his sake. And she could sometimes use someone to check if her plans are fool-proof. Tell him to look for the moment she's quietest, that's when she's plotting something."

"You've been planning for this."

"Of course. I'm going to need your help while we're here."

"I was about to tell you the same thing. We'll talk tonight?"

"Tomorrow. She'll need one last push to let her guard down. And I think I know just the thing. Try to get Yasu-san's attention, she'd sooner get away with this than anyone."

"I'm listening."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Finally past the gates, Kakashi-san gets the genins in formation. The boys make an outer ring, allowing the girls to be inside with the kids. Yoshino-san suggests that Haku-san and Asami-san should be in the middle as well—it's only right, being her conclusion.

I stay a few strides behind the girls, letting them have their space to chat and gossip—mostly Ino-san and Sakura-san, though—but keeping close enough that Aya won't start getting defensive of all the unfamiliar scents around me. I stay with Hana to one side, and Yasu-san to the other. Interestingly, Kana and Satoko stay a stride behind me—I'm not sure what to make of that.

We wander down this cobbled street, through that paved avenue. It's fairly busy, I suppose, but at no point do I see tension building in my wolf. Even Lady seems completely at ease—she seems quite happy to be riding in Kiba's jacket alongside Akamaru.

There are street performers here and there, doing everything they can for a coin or two. A few money collectors from them are bold enough to approach us, but Hana's hounds chase them right off. All in all, it's a pretty tame stroll.

"Ooh! Little sister, I just had the most adorable idea!" Yasu-san announces out of the blue. She rushes ahead, linking arms with Aya to keep her attention. "I remember this geisha company not too far from here. I could arrange some entertainment for us. Some dancing, some music, and good company all around. What do you think?"

I can't make out Aya's words, but her excitement is hard to miss. I see her and Yasu discussing this or that, their hands buzzing with energy even after two days of travel—though Kakashi-san carried Yasu, travelling tiring all the same. Aya unseals en envelope, handing a stack of bills to Yasu—the elder of the pair nods, no doubt certain it would be more than enough for what she has in mind.

"Hatake," Aya calls up ahead. Kakashi-san stops walking, letting them catch up to him. There's another exchange, likely explaining what Yasu-san wants—though I doubt Kakashi-san missed a word of it. Until at last, "Take her?"

"Alright." Kakashi-san offers Yasu his elbow, but doesn't make contact. It's a clear request. Grey eyes meet brown-yellow, a wordless exchange I don't make sense of. Yasu takes the extended elbow, and the pair walk out of the safety of the pack. I smile, knowing that if anyone would take keep her safe, it's him.

Aya slows her pace, switching over to fill Yasu-san's old spot beside me. "You've been busy." I smile, placing my hand on her lower back and gently nudging her back to the group of girls I hope will soon be her bff's. "You're as bad as mom, sometimes," she teases, smiling as she goes back to her group. Ino-san links arms with my midget, already peppering her with questions.

If the end result is you being happy, healthy, and surrounded by your beloved? I'd gladly do this and more, love.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The house, a weekend home according to Aya, is of the largest mansions I've ever seen. I activate my Byakugan to see what I'm dealing with. Easily two hundred metres long, fifty metres wide, an expansive garden in the middle of and cutting a hole into the rectangular building, and four storeys high.

A quick count gives me over forty guest bedrooms, eight likely intended as servants' quarters, and three large enough to be master bedrooms with en suite bathrooms—each empty. Four expansive bathrooms that have nothing that isn't nailed down. A kitchen large enough to prepare food for an army in what looks to be perfect condition, though lacking any kind of utensil. A library large enough to keep even Aya busy for years—the shelves all look to be in good condition, but the books are all missing. Four sitting rooms, two of which are so grand I'd comfortably invite the Fire Daimyo himself in there as a guest—after we furnish them. Cellars, which are no doubt meant for food storage—four in total, all empty. A central heating system, no doubt meant to keep even the servants toasty in the dead of winter. There's a water storage facility underground, with what I take to be a water purification system to ensure there's always fresh water—currently empty, but not a disaster.

To the back is, what I can only describe as, a meditation garden, complete with a koi pond large enough to have a gilded bridge through the middle of it, and what seems to be two isles each complete with a cherry blossom tree. There are no fish, but that's easily remedied. There's even a little canoe for those romantic evening boat rides—talk about extravagance.

In the front are another two buildings, one to each side of the courtyard. They both strike me as a type of barracks—each complete with an expansive dojo, armoury, and cells meant as a temporary jail, of sorts.

And surrounding the grounds are solid stone walls, six metres thick, and twenty metres tall, complete with ramparts for guards to patrol, crenulations for added protection of the guards, and checkpoints every fifty metres complete with guard stations to divide the walls in defensible portions in case of an all-out attack.

This isn't a house. This isn't even a mansion. This is a palace. A palace I can kidnap my fiery princess and spirit her away to whenever the mood strikes me.

We barely make it into the courtyard—passing through a dual-gated checkpoint spacious enough for even a horse-drawn carriage—before Aya starts dishing out orders. The awed murmuring quiets down, though the wide eyes can't be helped. Michiko and Zeitou are to make a proper map, as accurately as they can. Asami-san is put in charge of planning the security system, with specific instructions that if she needs anyone's assistance, that person is to stop whatever they are doing and aid her to the fullest of their abilities.

Eimi is put in charge of the pups, with Reika as her second in command. They're given the scroll with snacks and juice boxes, and they set out already calling out a game they want to play with them. Aya gives Eimi a meaningful look, wordlessly reminding her not to let Hoshie stray too far from myself and/or Aya, just in case.

Kana and Satoko are in charge of itemizing the food stores, planning our meals over the coming days, making a list of any and everything we'd need when taking both into account, and… well, I've got to hand it to Aya, she knows how to organize our people. She even assigns Tsuji and Atsu to the ladies, to unseal everything we'd brought with us and to act as the brawns they'll no doubt need.

Asuma-san is put in charge of guards and assigning guard duties. He takes his and Kurenai-san's teams to scout the old fashion way, probably intending to show them how to 'design' a patrol route for this kind of setting.

If that isn't enough, she grabs Shikaku-san's elbow and starts peppering him with questions I don't bother following. Zabuza-san follows them at a comfortable distance—obviously he's taking his mission seriously.

I feel a little lightheaded, seeing my love doing all she can to take care of her pack.

"She's quite the leader," Miwako-sensei says, suddenly beside me. Her eyes are on her eldest.

"Nn," I noise, agreeing with her. "It's part of the reason she was promoted to Special Jounin after our last mission."

"You don't say."

"I warned Satsuma-san already, but you might want to be especially careful. Aya's not going to take well to you butting into her life in any form or fashion. I wouldn't bet on anyone sticking up for you."

"I know." You don't have a clue, sensei. "You're helping Yoshi-chan get through Aya's defen—"

"I warn you for Aya's sake, not yours," I cut her off, walking over to Yoshino-san, who's busy discussing decorating options with Mariko-san, Remi-san, and Mika-san. I suggest we start with one of the sitting rooms, and perhaps six of the smaller bedrooms so everyone will be comfortable. Remi-san points out the kitchenware we'll need. Mariko-san's mostly focused on the garden itself, suggesting turning a portion into a vegetable garden come spring, and perhaps planting some more trees.

"Ooh. Would it make sense to turn one of the sitting rooms into a dojo?" Mika-san asks.

"No need, there are already two dojos. We just need to make a schedule so we each get in some time to train," I say, looking to Yoshino-san. "I think we should talk to Aya about keeping some weapons in the armouries."

"Agreed. I plan on sending a team to Konoha to buy some extras as well. That way you'll have a backup in case Ryuuhou is closer. And knowing her, she'll need some blunted kunai for the kids." We didn't get those yet? Well, I'm sure we'll have a proper list of what we need before too long.

"Shouldn't we check the local blacksmiths first?" Could I tempt Aya for us to live here? Or at least spend a significant amount of time every year? Or maybe start making plans to build a place like this in Konoha. I like the setup.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

This. This right here, right now. This is the life. Yasu came through with the entertainment, six geishas now providing us with the soothing strings and flirty flutes and dancing drums to fill our sitting room with the gentle music needed to ease one's mind. She also ordered hundreds of tatami mats, enough for the entire sitting room and a dozen bedrooms so everyone can sit and sleep comfortably, six long low tables with enough seating for our group with room to spare.

So I find myself sitting cross-legged to the table nearest the music, with an arm languidly strewn over Aya's shoulder, an already half full bottle of sake before me with two saucers so we can sip at our leisure, and nothing that needs our attention for the evening.

Note by glorious note, the tension in both of us eases, evaporating as we drink in the moment. Our moment.

Every time my eyes wander to the miracle beside me, there's a smile on her lips, warmth in her eyes. Her hand lays idle on my thigh, her head against my breast. Even while surrounded, this perfect moment is intimate.

Her humming steadily grows louder, bolder, as if a timid turtle peeking out of its shell. She knows this song well, and I don't doubt she loves it. Just as the geisha starts singing, the words flow off my love's tongue, teasing my senses in the worst way. Even with her slight slur, she sounds more angelic than anything I've ever heard—though I admit I'm biased, it does sound pleasing to the ear.

More than that, it's the music within her. The songs once trapped within her, shackled no longer by the pains of the past.

Her fingers tap my thigh in keeping with the drums. Her song grows louder still, drawing me deeper and deeper as if a sirene's call to a lonely sailor. Until at last there's nothing else, not to me. There is only her, only her rhythm, only her music… only her, always her.

She gets up, plopping down on the table in front of me like every time she fed me. Only this time, the food is for my very soul.

Her chest heaves with every breath. Her shoulders tucked back as she belts out the words, loud as an explosion and clear as a bell. Her eyes are closed, as if she's rocked by the most intense orgasm. Her mouth hangs open, is flung close, and creeps open—over and over.

She takes me by the ears, drawing me into her, wrapping me in her. My ear is against her. The drum is her heart, the flutes are her lungs, the strings are fingers in my hair. And she's my dancer, swaying back and forth.

Maybe it's the sake, drowning all the world in a haze of blissful silence. Maybe it's the emotions ringing so loud in my ears that I hear nothing else. Or maybe I'm too far gone, so lost in her that nothing but her touch can reach me.

Whatever it is, it is welcome to stay. Stay, here, here where I build my home in the arms that will only ever welcome me.

Here, where there is only her, only me… only us.

Always us.

Us.

Her hand wafts up to her nose.

A single finger rights her glasses.

Her eyes smile.

Her eyes twinkle.

All the stars…

Trapped in her…

Just like me…

Her lips move.

Words are formed.

Just two.

I you.

"And I you."

She leans in.

My heart throbs.

She takes my hand, lays it on her chest.

Her heart is the same.

I ease forward, so fast and so agonizingly slow.

Hands slither around my shoulders.

Hands stumble around her waist.

We don't kiss. We don't need to.

Touch. Warmth. She vibrates within me, filling me with a pulsating, feverish need to never let her go.

I fall back, falling with her, her falling with me. She's atop me. Then I'm atop her. I don't understand, but her lips are both firm and soft against mine. I grow weak, unable to hold myself up.

Laughter. Light and carefree. And free. Oh so free. Her legs around me. Her arms around me. Her around me, within me.

It's such a quiet thing. Falling. At first, it's a whisper in the back of your mind—easily ignored, easily overlooked. A whisper that, like a snowball, absorbs all it touches, claiming it as its own. Like the stillness within me, it grows. And it grows. And it doesn't stop growing. Until at last I don't recognize the world around me, and it's so loud it drowns everything else out.

This is where I find myself, Namiki Aya. This is what you do to me, do for me. This is why I can deny you nothing.

So ask me. Ask of me what you will.

"Put me to bed?"

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 28_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: It feels wrong to end the chapter here, but it also feels right. This is what I need to show._**

 ** _I know it feels as if Aya's rusted in one spot, refusing to move forward, refusing to go back. That's exactly what this chapter marks the end of._**


	29. My Chances

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 29 – My Chances_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Can I talk to you?" I ask, feeling nervous for some reason. I shouldn't be. I know I can trust her with this, that she'll understand, that she'll be okay with it. And yet, the fear doesn't abate.

It's two in the morning, but I know she woke up when I went to the bathroom. I know she felt me leave our conjoined futons, carefully lain in the corner, away from the door. Instead of answering, she snuggles up to me, easing on to me and between my thighs—she has a thing with being able to touch me so intimately, even when we aren't being… doing… well, doing anything _ecchi_.

She peers up at me, lays her arms on my chest and sets her chin on one of them. I have her attention, no doubt. I cast a privacy jutsu.

"I didn't touch Shimura's people. Not yet," I begin. She doesn't react, just gazing at me, her eyes soft and warm. "I…"

I take a deep breath, shoving aside the stupid thought—it's not like wondering why I want to talk about this in the middle of the night is helping.

"I am targeting Shimura, yes. But my traps are set to trigger over the coming weeks." I pause, waiting to see if this is too much, too… too anything for her—it's already there for me, but I'm tired of never talking about this, tired of taking on the world solo.

No response. She just lies there with a gentle smile.

 _Sigh_. "I know about Anbu Root. I know that he's behind most of Naruto's torment. And I know he's been itching to get his claws into both of us."

Again, only a smile.

"Jiraiya gave me a few books on Uzumaki style sealing. He taught me the basics, but after that it was on me." Not even a twitch. "So I've used tracking and sensory seals to monitor Shimura's organization. I've been keeping Hokage-dono up to date on his moves, though I was never able to discover much. So I tagged all of his people."

She doesn't interrupt, she isn't even acting as if she wants to. Just listening.

"It isn't anything fancy. Just an explosion note."

She chuckles this time, amused with it all.

"An underpowered one, though. Meant to kill only the Op tagged. I have them set to trigger in intervals. One every eight hours. The first is set for sunrise."

"Top down or bottom up?" she asks, the smile in her tone undeniable.

"Top down. Though it's set up to seem completely random, as if the attacker doesn't really know the hierarchy." A smile tugs at my lips. "The best part. They're designed to look like Fujiwara Seals, so anyone from the Land of Fire could be behind it. And he's made a lot of enemies in this country. He'll never be able to pin it on me. Doubly so, because I'm not in Konoha."

"And him not being able to openly admit they're his Ops?" She's been brought up to speed on things, it seems. Daddy's been at least as busy as Mi.

I grin. "That, too."

"He's going to retaliate anyway." I nod, agreeing that he'll try. "So how are we handling that?"

"We aren't. We'd be the shinobi victims of a crime. Anbu jurisdiction. And with you being an Op, with Hatake being an ex-Captain, with Hana and auntie Tsume? And our plans to start a rehabilitation centre for injured Ops?"

"Our compound would be the nerve centre for all Anbu traffic in the village. Smart."

It doesn't make us invulnerable, nothing will. But it places just one more hurdle—and considering Anbu have always been protective of their own, it'll be a BIIIIIIIG hurdle. "You were cold to Miwako."

"You're different," she changes the subject, obviously unwilling to get into that.

"Yes." There's no point in denying it. I'm more at peace—Miwako notwithstanding. "I blame you."

She laughs, her whole face glowing brighter than I've ever seen.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Punch meets elbow. Elbow meets punch. Over and over, the simple and repetitive exchange drowns out the passage of time. Mi's covered with a light sheen of perspiration. I don't doubt I'm the same—though it feels like I'm swimming in it.

No matter. We keep going. I throw a punch, she elbows. She throws a punch, I elbow. The repetitive action is no doubt going to help toughen up her forearms and wrists and hands, and everything, really. I want to make sure she's in top condition, looming mission or no.

We have an appointment later, mom and I. Some upscale kimono store she said caught her eye, and something about 'something fetching'. Curiously, Mi has the same kind of appointment later, with daddy, if by a different store.

The phone's been ringing off the hook since sunrise. Daddy's been busy, but the amusement in his eyes as he sat down to breakfast is telling.

"Break," Hoshie's voice rings through the dojo. I glance at her and Sakiko, finding them both sweating, their hands and elbows bright red from their training. They're all smiles.

And my thoughts are really erratic. What's up with me? Maybe it's the banquet, the one I know will change my stars forever. I don't know Tetsuhiko all that well, but I know the type. He's a politician, no matter how close he was to my grandmother. He'll want to tempt me to stay in Ryuuhou, he'll offer the moon and the stars to have the Namiki clan be loyal to only him. _How novel_.

Only, there's no easy counter to that. Defying Hokage-dono is risky enough, defying a powerful daimyo is a death sentence.

He wants to reward me, as was our agreement, and yet it could only happen in Ryuuhou, in his realm of absolute power. After all, his power in Konoha is only theoretical. He can _technically_ order his Kage around, but there are risks to pushing too far. I don't doubt at least one daimyo has been assassinated for assuming too much.

And yet, if I'm wrong, and Tetsuhiko is truly my ally… that changes everything—the world becomes my oyster. There's no limit to what I could get away with. Kill someone in cold blood in the streets in front of a gaggle of witnesses? No problem. The daimyo would need to hear the case, and I could get off Scott free.

I could be offered land, slaves, servants, titles, more Ryou than I can count. It's all on the table. Or I could be executed on the spot.

Gods, am I ready for such a meeting?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Standing in the foyer, I fidget, fighting not to pace back and forth. Today's the day. The banquet. Daddy and I hammered out a solid plan—only Yasu-nee, Hatake, Mi, daddy, and I are going. When Tetsuhiko asks about that, our response is a simple and elegant 'they are all hung over'. It doesn't work for any other group, but for Namikis it's irrefutably possible. Doubly so, given we were given the date and time but yesterday.

Everyone has a proper outfit, one which even mom cannot find (much) fault with. Yasu-nee's gone over the proper protocols with us. Mi and I have an escape plan in place, should shit hit the fan. Daddy's been given full authority to speak for us, which Yasu agrees is quite normal in the circumstance—since 'girls' are expected to defer to the 'man in their life' in such a situation.

So, okay. We're not ready. But we're as ready as can be hoped for, prayed for, and as far as the brightest minds that I temporarily kidnapped from Konoha can plan for. Sarutobi tried saying that we're being paranoid for nothing. I didn't pay any more attention to him the fiftieth time he said it than the first—or if he even said it that often.

I just know I'm here, standing in the most constricting kimono of my life. Normally I'd just wear the top half and counterbalance it with skin-tight pants of some sort. Mom refused that out of hand. I'm in a proper, full-length kimono. Salmon-coloured, with a cherry blossom tree occupying only the lower half. No sweeping sleeves—I'd refused that on the grounds I'm not going to present myself as plausibly single, and those sweeping sleeves are only worn by single women.

Well, I also know that I can barely take a quarter step before my kimono bitches at me and tries dragging my other leg along. So I feel like I have to walk like a drunken duck in order to make any kind of headway. No matter how many times Yasu-nee tried to 'show me how to walk', I feel like a bumbling idiot in this.

And I really need to nice this place up. It's so… cold, so sterile. I don't like that. I don't like the bare walls, or the monotone wooden walls and floor. I want colour, life. I want every room to have a different potted plant, to lend it a unique scent. I want this place to vibrate, to thrum with life from every angle.

A scent draws my attention. I turn, finding Mi standing in the doorway in a black three piece men's business suit. Her jacket is left open, her hands on her hips to show off her figure, how the waistcoat hugs her every curve. Her cream and black-striped shirt's cuffs are folded back, held in place by cufflinks that look and smell like gold. Though her pants hug her curves, they aren't tight, exactly. They display her lack of fear to show her hips, her toned thighs. She's taller than usual—she's wearing three-inch, open-toe heels.

"My eyes are up here," she teases, her smile obvious. I look up at her. She's smirking, telling me without words that she knows I like it—to put it mildly. And, more importantly, to tell me she enjoys knowing that. Her hair is brushed back—the lower end likely held in place by a scrunchie or ninja wire. No make-up, but she doesn't need it—not in my opinion. She looks… _wow_.

"You look beautiful," she murmurs, her eyes drinking me in, much in the same way I like just had with her.

I don't answer, I walk up to her and close her jacket, buttoning it for her, and reaching up to untie and properly tie her tie—it looks frumpy, and I'm not going to let her look anything but gorgeous. "I'm going to signal you if I don't trust myself to answer. I'll keep it subtle, because Tetsuhiko knows Namiki habits. So count on me taking your hand and giving a gentle squeeze. If I start getting annoyed, I'm going to subtly signal daddy. He already knows that means to start making a gentle exit. I'm not wearing my gloves. So tha—"

Her hand ghosts over my eyebrow and down the contour of my face, cupping my cheek. "I'm not leaving your side. And I _am_ wearing my gloves." I narrow my eyes—I didn't know she bugged Asami for…

Whatever. I make one last twist and flip-through, pulling the material snug for her. "If anything goes down, I can only be support. I—"

"I spoke to Shikaku-san. Between him, Ensui, and Kakashi-san, we should be alright. Yoshino-san will be taking care of the clan for us. Because your scent is so strong on her, Hoshie should be fine for a few hours. Michiko and Zeitou know to warn me if anything happens. And Kana and Satoko have a plan to keep everyone busy while we're out. We'll be fine."

I tilt my head from side to side, going over the information. It isn't the best plan, but it feels solid all the same. Simple, hard to get wrong. "When's the security system supposed to go online?" I ask, testing just how up-to-date she is.

"Tomorrow night, latest." I nod—Asami told me the same thing this morning. "Zabuza-san and Haku-san are coming with us. I have his sword sealed in my glove, along with Haku-san's senbons, Shikaku-san's kunai, and Yasu-san's tanto. We have a solid plan, love."

"I know," I murmur, wondering if it's solid enough.

"I'm not letting anything happen to you." Absolute certainty, that's all I hear. She's stating a fact as obvious to her as the sun rises.

I smile, shaking my head in amusement. Satisfied she looks presentable, I tug on her tie to tell her to lean in. We kiss, short and sweet. Her hands find their way to my face, cupping my cheeks, nudging me to look up at her, right into her warm gaze.

"I'll take care of you." Her solemn tone barely hints at the depths of that vow, but I've come to know her heart—she'd sooner crawl back to the Hyuugas than go back on her words.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

There isn't as much to the banquet. Not to me. There's food sprawled over six long and high tables so we may walk up to them. There's a stage that elevates the afternoon's entertainment of song and dance. There's my group keeping near me at all times. And there's Tetsuhiko.

The rest of the palace rabble could slip in their own entrails and off a cliff for all I care. A shame they aren't likely to.

There are at least six hundred people here, each dressier than the next, each with bragging about this or that, and each acting as if Tetsuhiko is their best friend, constantly vying for his attention and begging for him to be included in their conversation for some reason or other. Better him than me. Curiously, the vast majority of the crowd are clearly the nobles' guards, though dressed up equally fancy—if slightly less so than the lord or lady they so obviously guard. For some reason, all the guards are kept over to one side, well away from the nobles. That confuses me—how can they properly guard anyone at that distance?

The extravagant décor and the locale go unnoticed, as if being in a hall large enough for ten times this crowd is the norm. There are servants buzzing about, making beelines through the stuffy and arrogant crowd as if it's the most natural thing in the world to them. I hear the _nobility's_ mutterings instead of gratitude, though no one else is apt to notice. This isn't the kind of crowd I'd ever find myself at ease in.

No, we keep to ourselves in a quiet corner at the foot of the stage. Ensui keeps bringing us plates of food and refilling the strange crystalline cups with the even stranger liquids—one time it's blood red and smells of grapes, another it's almost golden and transparent with fizzy little bubbles.

Zabuza, kami-sama bless his heart, glares any pompous little shit that dares come our way into an early grave. So we've had no one that dares come for _a little chat_. That is, until Tetsuhiko comes our way. He smiles at Zabuza, walking passed him without any trouble, right over to Mi and I.

The Fire Daimyo makes some small talk, laughs at some joke Mi tells him—didn't hear it, I'm too busy trying to ignore the newest little shit Zabuza is glaring at. Thus far, this banquet is a page out of the most uncomfortable nightmares I've ever suffered through. All I need is for heads to start rolling—it's the only symptom missing.

When Tetsuhiko leaves, so does the laughter. Mi turns to me, her arm slithering around me. She leans down, murmuring right into my ear, her breath teasing goose bumps on every millimetre of exposed skin. "He'll be making his announcements soon." I shiver. I don't care who 'he' is, what he has to say, or much of anything. I just want her to do that again.

This pompous little shit comes sauntering up to our group, glaring at Zabuza as if to dare him to try anything. He tries getting passed, but the ex-rogue stands firmly in his way, glaring down at him as if he's a mosquito buzzing around, too loud for his own good.

A pest that doesn't understand the rules of the other groups don't apply to us, don't exist with us. A pest that snaps his fingers and expects his samurai guard to shove Zabuza out of the way as elegantly as is possible—not that it's actually possible, but he'll have to sort through fantasy and fact on his own time.

Daddy comes back over to us, his frown as obvious as his dislike of some _person_ coming to bug his princess. "Is there a problem?" daddy drawls, stopping beside Zabuza to show who's side he's on.

"I should hope not," the pompous little shit announces, his tone smooth but anger lining his eyes. "If you would kindly have the brigand step aside?"

"No." Daddy turns and comes over to me, his hand coming to my face, his finger gently nudging my chin upwards and towards him so I'll look at him. He smiles, his eyes lighting up as he regards me. "You're not drinking too much, are you?"

"Maybe," I tease, my eyes mischievous. He snorts, shaking his head even as he leans in and kisses my brow. He can hear the lack of a slur in my words, so we both know I'm not.

We're called to take our seats. Just as Yasu-nee explained, we are called one group at a time—supposedly in order of importance. I don't care for any of it, though I am curious that the Namikis are called first, and that we are to sit beside Tetsuhiko-san. I look to my sister, but she's too amused to explain much of anything just now.

As we make our way into another, even more decadently decorated room with low tables, I nudge Yasu-nee to sit beside her grandfather, and I make sure Hatake sits beside her, just in case. I find myself between daddy and Mi—daddy to my left, Mi to my right. I don't know if there's a reason for it, I'm just glad to feel Mi's hand on my back, glad I can lay my hand on her thigh.

It takes almost ten minutes before everyone's seated, but it'll take even longer before food is properly served. Instead of worrying with that, I focus on the music wafting in the background.

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you at long last," I hear some person saying, though I offer no sign I listen. I give Mi a gentle squeeze, letting her know I'll just mouth off and start trouble.

"Please excuse her reserved attitude, she's unused to such large crowds," Mi answers for me. "Please meet Namiki Aya."

"You don't say. Would she happen to be related to Namiki Akemi? Lord Mistuzaka was quite close to her growing up."

"Aya's maternal grandmother," Mi explains, grabbing my side and squeezing gently for some reason. The pair of them keep going back and forth, though it's painfully obvious that that person asks much and offers little.

Once I'm sick of hearing the endless tirade of questions, I shut Mi up with a kiss on her neck. I make sure to nibble just enough, to turn her on just enough, to make sure she doesn't care about whoever that person is and what they're curious about. And to make sure there's a glowing little red spot on her exposed skin so no one questions her standing in my life.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I don't know how people have the patience for shit like this. We've been through seven courses over the last three hours. Between each course, we've had enough time to 'mingle' and to 'discuss'. I've hated everything. The food is too little—only enough to tease your taste buds. The time between each course is too long. And the only ones I care to converse with, I didn't have to leave my home for.

Curiously, daddy's had to chase off another slew of 'suitors'. No matter how I cuddle with Mi, no matter how daddy turns them away without fail or exception, they just don't get the point that I'm not interested in so much as knowing their name.

"Tetsuhiko-san, is there some reason people keep bothering me?" I ask, a little fire seeping into my tone to show how I truly feel about this. The Fire Daimyo only laughs.

"It's pretty common, sweetie," daddy explains. "When boys see a beautiful girl like you, they can't help but try their luck."

"So if I try my luck to eviscerate them?" The latest asshole turns heel and strolls away without a word. I'm going to miss him. And why is everyone laughing?

"Oh, Aya-chan, I've been meaning to ask?" Tetsuhiko grabs my attention. With four people sitting between us, he has to speak up a bit, so there isn't a doubt in my mind he wants for everyone to hear what he has to say. "Do you intend to retire soon? After all, you have your lover within reach, and your clan's prosperity is all but assured."

"Yes," I agree, nodding. I rub my hand up and down Mi's thigh, letting her know my words are meant more for her than for anyone. "We have more than enough pups running around to keep me busy. So I'll be focusing on them."

"I thought as much," Tetsuhiko admits, sounding amused for some reason. "Then I've selected your gifts perfectly." I narrow my eyes, but don't comment. "And what of Hitomi-chan? What are your plans?"

"I'll be taking over the political side of things for Aya. Shikaku-san has been helping me."

"Aww," I coo, turning my full attention to daddy and tugging on his arm. He leans in, letting me kiss his cheek without a fuss. "Thank you, daddy." His goofy-happy grin shows me without a doubt he enjoys taking care of me, no matter what I need from him.

"Of course."

"Ooh, that reminds me." I turn to Mi, meeting her questioning gaze. "Keiko and Misato. We need to…" Mi smiles, leaning in and kissing me on the neck, nibbling just enough to show me she can play that game, too.

"I'll handle it." She had to say that with her lips still on my neck, sending a tremor of pleasure through me. Of course. Show-off.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Once the meal is—FINALLY!—eaten and the tables are cleared, Tetsuhiko invites us all into the great hall—though I can't figure out what's so great about it. It isn't until The Fire Daimyo ascends the seven stairs all the way to the back and has four of his twelve guards surrounding him that it hits me—this is his seat of power, where he sits atop his plateau and gazes down on the ants that are his people.

Everyone lines up in two columns, leaving a walkway of sorts between them. There's a buzz of excitement. Some are theorising who'll be given gifts, others are musing what gifts they'll be given. I don't get it, and I'm not going to try.

The ninja guardian closest to Tetsuhiko calls out name after name. Each time some pampered little shit comes and bows low to their liege, each time they are offered title, land, or both. Yasu-nee eventually explains that it's Tetsuhiko's thirtieth anniversary as daimyo, and he holds a party like this to reward those who've served him well over the last decade.

I shrug, not really caring for any of it.

"Namiki Aya!" _Sigh_. I grab Mi by her elbow to let her escort me. She stops us at 'the appropriate distance', and we bow. I right myself, I look up at Tetsuhiko, finding an amused smile in his eyes.

"Happy anniversary, Tetsuhiko-san," I say, smiling warmly. There's a collective gasp behind me—I only shake my head at the collective stupidity of nobility.

"Why thank you, Aya-chan, Hitomi-chan." Tetsuhiko only seems to be more amused, an impish little smile working its way onto his features. "Namiki Aya-chan. You've done both me and the Land of Fire a great service. When Hidejiro showed signs of corruption, you brought justice to bear."

The murmuring starts up again, only this time there's an undercurrent of fear. So that's your game?

"In addition to investigating his every crime, you and yours brought all guilty parties directly to me for a fair and just trial. You freed the people of Wave country, and you brought their land into the fold of the Land of Fire." The murmuring stops, like a raging bull hitting a wall that doesn't give into it. "I wish to reward you in keeping with this, in the only way I believe you deserve."

So much dramatics. Why? Just tell me what you want and be done with it.

"First and foremost, I gift you ten samurais of the Fujiwara clan, including their wives and children." Must not snarl. Must not growl. Must not react.

"In addition to this, I gift you Hidejiro's fortunes, monetary and otherwise. His slaves, his servants, and his harem." Calm. Be at peace. Just because these people are given to you as if property, doesn't mean you need to treat them so—and you knew this was a posibility. Just calm down.

"Namiki Hitomi and Namiki Aya, I appoint you both to the position of advisor." I stare blankly ahead, waiting to hear what this entails before I blow a fucking fuse. "You shall be my eyes and ears, you shall be my voice. Not just in Konoha, but in the Elemental Nations. And should it become needed, you will be my blade."

I grin. Well, well, well. Shimura. Hokage-dono. I just became your permanent migraine.

"You are hereby also granted the title of noble clan of the Land of Fire. With this comes the right to own slaves, the right to arrest any person in the Land of Fire until they are brought to trial, and the right to train and house an army in my name. This army is yours to command, but may only act on orders given by me personally. No one but me will have authority over you. And no one may judge your actions but me."

"We are most grateful." Mi and I bow low to him. "We will ensure we have a secure line for you to contact us, should there be need of it."

"No need. Arrangements have already been made." My grin only widens. This is going to create a tidal wave in Konoha. "Please ensure you have a team ready at all times, should I have need of them. I understand you yourself are retired, Aya-chan, so I ask only that you continue to train them."

"As you say."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I hold it in as best I can, rushing through the streets. It takes four strides to compare to my usual one, but I can't bring myself to care. I'm too busy fighting to hold in an evil cackle.

All the training, all the fighting, all the plotting, all the working from the shadows. But most of all, all the bullshit I've been through in my life. It all leads up to this one, glorious moment where the world is my fucking oyster!

I can retire without a care. I can finally focus solely on my medical jutsu and train others when I feel the need.

I. Am. Free.

 **Free**! Free. I can do as I damn well please. And there's no one in the fucking world that would dare tell me different!

We make it to the gates, Sarutobi lets us in and I dash ahead—or try to, it's kind of hard to move quickly when your legs are constrained—tugging Mi along with me. I need to tell the pack, I need them to share this gorgeous moment with me.

Cocking my head back, I let loose a howl to call the pack to me. It takes but a fraction of a second before a dozen howls greet me and my family comes running. Wolf and pup alike, everyone comes out of the house to see what's going on.

Reika, Sakiko, and Hoshie are the first to reach me, for some reason. The others are hot on their trail, though—including Satsuma and Miwako, carrying Kenshin.

"Namiki meeting. Right now," I announce, motioning for them to follow me. They don't ask, though I see the curiosity burning in their eyes. They follow me around the house, into the back. I lead them down to the pond, to a secluded little spot with two stone benches. I take a seat, motioning for everyone to gather round.

Mi takes her rightful place next to me, wrapping an arm around my middle. I give everyone a moment to get semi-comfortable—we really need to set up one of the sitting rooms as a meeting room, so we can hold proper meetings in private.

"The meeting turned out better than I could have hoped for," I begin, unwilling to have them worrying about it—though they show no signs, better safe than sorry. "We, the Namiki clan, no longer answer to Hokage-dono or to Konoha. We are now directly under Tetsuhiko's command."

The others look around, confused, wondering why that's a good thing no doubt. Only Miwako seems to make any sense of it, her eyes glowing with warmth as she hugs Kenshin.

"Let me explain. Even if I retire as a kunoichi of Konoha, in times of war I can and will be called on. The same holds true for certain types of missions. Even if I were to become the best medic in Konoha's history, if Hokage-dono decides a mission is better suited for me, I'll still be sent out. Even if I am officially retired, he can still force me back onto active duty and send me out. The only way out, is if a shinobi or kunoichi has a debilitating injury—missing a limb or being in a coma or being unable to walk without aid."

The shinobi nod, understanding in their eyes—the only other option is death, and that's such a drag.

"What Tetsuhiko has effectively done, is he offered us freedom. To an extent, but a greater extent that Hokage-dono would ever allow. We're in a position to deny everyone in Konoha any and everything. The only one capable of issuing us orders is Tetsuhiko himself."

"That's great and all," Michiko begins, narrowing her eyes at me. "But there's more going on here."

"Yes," I agree nodding. I look away from them, wondering how to even begin explaining this.

I mean. I became a kunoichi because of Miwako disappearing. By becoming a kunoichi, I wrote my life over to Konoha, essentially giving them the power to dictate if I live or die, and how, to a certain extent. In doing so, I gave up on my one dream—to be a simple housewife, to mind the home. So, in fact, I denied myself everything, and put myself in a position where I could demand nothing—no matter that I fought it tooth and nail.

"He's given back your life," Satsuma pipes up. Everyone looks to him, askance. But Michiko's eyes never waver from mine. "Undoing what Miwako and I have done."

"Pretty much," I agree, bobbing my head. Not that I plan of forgiving them because of it, but yeah, that sums it up. I shake off the useless emotions, trying to get my head back in the game. "We've also been given the right to house and train an army in his name."

Another interesting thing here. We haven't been appointed head of said army—we are allowed to house and train it. That means it's a position that cannot be stripped of us by anyone but the daimyo. Feudalism at its best. We foot the bill for housing, training, arming, and armouring. And he'll expect me to be loyal to him, so if the army is loyal to me, it's loyal to him by default. We're his nest egg, should things go sour, for whatever reason.

"He's sending one of his twelve ninja guardians over with ten samurai, slaves, and that dickhead daimyo's harem."

"We're a noble clan, then," Satsuma intones, obviously not impressed.

"Yes," I agree, understanding his stance all too well. Nobles are _capricious_ , and well-known for their _proclivities_. "But we're doing this the Namiki way." I nod to Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi, Tsuji, and Atsu. They grin, understanding that we'll be treating the new additions as part of the pack and training them accordingly.

"A few major changes, starting now." Everyone stands a little straighter, even Yasu-nee, Kana, and Satoko. "Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi. Seeing as I am officially retired, you three will be Mi's team. I will still train you as I always have, but you'll be under her direct command."

"So nothing's changing," Zeitou teases, winking. I roll my eyes, not disagreeing with him. Mi would order them to guard me every bit as zealously as they have been, and then tell them exactly what they need to look out for.

"Moving on. Yasu-nee, you're still in charge of all things civilian-related. You'll just have a much larger group under your command. Keep in mind that I trust you, Satoko, and Kana far more than the new additions. So they won't be allowed in our den when we go back to Konoha."

"Of course, little sister," Yasu-nee agrees easily.

"I'll assign a single house for the servants," I flatly refuse to call them slaves—Namikis don't keep slaves, "and you'll be given duties to be assigned to them. While we're here they will be housed in the left barracks as you enter. Kana and Satoko are, of course, your assistants, so the three of you will need to organize them and ensure everything is done without fail."

"Understood," Kana gushes, fire burning in her eyes for some reason. "I'll keep an eye on them. I'll report anything of note, and I'll let you know if any of them come off as anything but trustworthy."

"You do that," I encourage, smiling. That's exactly what we need right now, someone that will keep the newbies under surveillance. "Reika, do you have my gloves?"

"Of course, Aya-sama." Reika reaches into a hip pouch that certainly wasn't there before, taking out my gloves and offering them to me.

My, my, Mi-chan. You certainly have been busy.

Taking my gloves, I unseal my kunoichi scroll, from there I unseal the bag with the tantos and take two out. Kana and Satoko each get one.

Hoshie. I see her growing nervous out of the corner of my eye. I study her for a moment, seeing her gaze flicking from Yasu-nee to Kana to Satoko to Michiko. Every time, she sees them bearing weapons. Though I doubt she knows I'm the one that armed them, I see her desire to belong all the same.

Then Hoshie's eyes fall on Sakiko, on the tanto strapped across her lower back. Tears well up, for some reason. It almost seems as if she can accept her elders being armed, but someone her own age is getting preferential treatment she obviously lacks.

"Hoshie," I call to her, as gently as I can to not startle her. She doesn't ask, she comes barrelling at me. I set aside the bag for a moment, sealing my scroll back into my glove for safekeeping. I scoop her up and plop her into my lap. "Listen, little sister. I'm going to say this only once."

Her yellow-brown eyes dance back and forth, focusing on my left then right eye. Her pleading is no less noticeable, though I doubt she does it consciously.

"Sakiko understands my rules. She understands the risks. And she shows me that every day. Because of this, I know I can trust her to train with and keep a weapon. Do you understand?" She nods, tears welling up in her eyes. She expects me to tell her she can't have one—something tells me that's all she's ever heard; _no_. "So I'll give you the same respect."

Her eyes widen and her face starts glowing.

"Not so fast, pup," I hold up a finger to tell her I'm not done. She smiles, shy and unsure, but her eyes aren't smiling any less bright. "You could cut yourself with that blade. You could hurt others just as easily. If I find out either happens, I'm not giving you a second chance. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, Aya-nee," she says, her tone solemn but no less happy. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"Not just with you, pup," I say, giving her a meaningful look.

"Of course!" she agrees, wincing at how loud her own voice sounds. She takes a moment to calm down before continuing. "Of course, Aya-nee. I'd never hurt Ki-chan."

I peer into the bag, leaning in and taking another tanto, but I don't offer it to her just yet. "If you accept this blade, you accept the trainings and responsibilities that come with it."

She nods solemnly, steel in her eyes. "I won't let you down, o'nee-chan."

I press the sheathed blade into her hands, my gaze never wavering from hers. "Sakiko. I'll need you to show our sister the first kata. Take it slow."

The pair of them don't miss a beat. They dash off, just a little ways up, and the explanation starts. They don't start training just yet—I'd be disappointed if they did. No, Sakiko starts pointing to this and that, no doubt explaining things about how to strap the blade to her lower back, the names of the pieces, all the important stuff no one has patience for.

I should address Miwako and her husband. I know I should.

"Reika." I turn to the pup still wearing her uniform, her face and hair covered. Her green eyes smile, a crease forms in her mask to show her lips are curled up as well. "You're going to be my assistant from now on. You'll be joining me for all my trainings. And you're going to help me keep our clan organized."

"Of course, Aya-sama."

"Don't accept this role lightly, little sister. You don't yet know how much this will demand of you."

"I understand, but I don't care," she says plainly. "Milady needs me. I'll find a way."

I nod at her words, studying her from head to toe. She'll need gloves, like mine. She'll need scrolls to seal things away. She'll need proper leg pouches. She'll also need more blades—kunai and trench knives strike me as the more practical for now. I'll need to start working her in with all the chakra control exercises I know—she's going to start on medical jutsu sooner or later.

More than that, it's time to stop pretending I need Asami to do these things. I need my own brushes and inks and empty scrolls—my packmates need to start their training in these arts as well. The time for pretence is long past, after all. I can't deal with a lot of things out here—too many eyes, too many ears—but I can and will start gathering the things they'll need.

"Alright," I say, unsure if I'm talking to Reika or not. I turn to Mi, wondering how best to broach her needing—

"I have my team, so I won't need an assistant. And I've already made a list of things for Santa to pick up for us in Konoha. Including gloves for the others, blank scrolls, enough calligraphy brushes for all present, and all the other items Asami-san says you'll need. Do you have anything else you needed picked up?"

I lean in, claiming her lips with mine. If she isn't careful, I'll start craving to marry her before I turn sixteen—and I doubt mom will take well to the idea.

"I don't have anything planned for the new additions, not yet," Mi continues, her breathy voice sending a shiver through me. "I figure we wait a day or two before calling Santa with the finalised list. It should be enough time for you to decide if Keiko and Misato are your guards or not."

I kiss her again, loving how she's starting to think a few steps ahead. I nod, sucking in the much needed air she stole from me—I feel every bit as breathless, she likes taking my breath away. "I'll discuss it with Ensui and daddy later."

"They can hear you, you know," she murmurs, the cocky little smirk all too obvious. I don't know if she knows I've not noticed them, but it's painfully obvious she enjoys how she affects me.

Just to annoy her, I pull back, looking around—daddy's eyes shine with amusement, so he no doubt knows exactly what I'm doing. "What do you th—" Mi kisses my neck. Her teeth graze my skin, derailing my train of thought.

"What do you think, daddy. Could the Naras sp—" Mi pulls back just enough for her searing breath to get me to stumble over my words. I swat her leg, knowing she's doing it on purpose. "Could the Naras sp—"

"You said you'd speak with him later," she murmurs into my ear, her nose trailing right back down to the spot that, I don't doubt for a second, is already turning bright red.

If anything, daddy looks even more amused, especially when I glare at him dully. "Mi. Behave."

"Don't wanna," she lilts, her nose suddenly nudging my earlobe. "We're on vacation, love. I plan on enjoying it." As if to prove her point, she nibbles on my earlobe, sucking my studs into her mouth and flicking them with her tongue.

I moan, unsure if she intends to make me enjoy it more.

"Yes, sweetie. Keiko and Misato are assigned to you until further notice. Just make sure Ensui and his family have proper accommodations, and no one'll complain." I'm kind of busy ignoring how my scent is becoming more and more obvious, so answering daddy is on the backburner.

Mi pulls back about the same time a pitiable whimper jumps up from my throat—they might be linked. "Good. So you have your guards. I have my team. A basic organisation of the clan is sketched. And we're both going to be training them. We know more or less what to expect. Is anything missing?"

Whether I want to or not, I see Satsuma and Miwako looking hopeful. The lifestyle choice's damage has been mitigated somewhat—though not becoming a kunoichi in the first place would have been preferable. Could… could our relationship be salvaged? Could the years of neglect be dampened?

I look to Hoshie and Sakiko, seeing them going through the kata one move at a time. Sakiko still hasn't mastered it, but she _is_ showing all the moves in the right order. The family I should have had, and the family I've sown together. The juxtaposition makes my head hurt.

But it's my heart that hurts most.

"The new additions are en route," Mi announces out of the blue. I turn to her, finding her Byakugan active. Her eyes see through me, passed my defences, passed the persona I wear for the world. "I'll take Yasu and Team Hitomi. We'll greet them and get them settled in. Servants on the left, samurais on the right."

"Mi…"

"We're going out tonight. Just the Namikis and Iis."

"Hitomi…"

"I've—"

"What are you…?"

"If you start running. You'll only keep running." Her words knock the wind from my sails. What she wants is obvious. And though I sort of kind of maybe want it, too, I don't know if I can face them. Not alone.

I look to her, peer passed the bulging veins, passed the tough exterior she presents to the world. She's hurting, too, but like me she's just not ready to face the mother-figure she should have had. "Stay with me?" She flinches. I can almost feel her focus shift to Miwako, so I take Mi's hand and lay it on my chest, so she can feel my heartbeat.

The bulging veins calm, the intensity of her gaze ebbs. Her eyes see only me this time. "Ensui, if you could go with Yasu to see to our arrivals?" she speaks only just loud enough for him to hear her. He starts walking that way, shooing the others while he's at it. "Guys. We'll need a few minutes with Miwako-sensei and Satsuma-san… alone."

Instead of walking away, Michiko moves behind Mi and I and places her hands on our shoulders. "We're a pack," she soothes, giving a gentle squeeze. "We do nothing alone." The others, no doubt spurred on by the simple truth in her words, crowd behind us as well. Reika sits beside me, wrapping her forearms around my elbow and laying her head against my shoulder.

Feeling their warmth wrapped around me like a blanket against winter's bitter cold, I find myself sitting up a little straighter as I face Miwako and Satsuma.

"I hate what you did to me." My words come out so cold it surprises even me. I get nothing but gentle squeezes, little reminders that my pack is here, that they'll be my strength if I am weak. "That you abandoned me, left me to rot in the fate you two didn't have the guts to face.

"You knew I hated being a kunoichi. You knew from the time I could walk that I was meant to be a doctor. I was supposed to be the one _saving_ lives." The pair of them stand there, side by side, holding each other as they take lash after lash of my verbal onslaught. "Do you have any idea how many people I've had to kill to keep Naruto safe? How many people I've had to drive insane to set an example? Do you even understand what that does to someone who learned those things to save lives?"

Tears fall. Not just down my cheeks, but theirs as well.

"If not for Tetsuhiko, I'd have been propositioned to join Anbu sooner rather than later. Do you have any idea how much worse that would make things? Being a Namiki on a team that could never have my ease at killing hundreds if not thousands of targets as we make and keep the Land of Fire safe?"

Satsuma's shoulders quake as the first sob escapes him. He does understand, being both a medic and the man I inherited my intelligence and demeanour from.

"So now you're back," I intone, gazing through already wet lenses at the pair I used to pray every night to see again. "And the poor little lost girl you left to fend for herself is supposed to ignore the damage you inflicted, willingly or otherwise."

"Not… not ignore," Satsuma manages, his voice thick with emotion. "I… we can't ask that."

"Then why are you here?" I demand, my chin quivering. "What do you want from me?"

"A chance to make it right," Miwako speaks up.

"So you'll bring back to life those I've killed because of you? You'll mend the minds I've shattered because of you?"

"No, Aya," Satsuma cuts his wife off, giving her a gentle tug to tell her to let him do the talking. Though he's emotional, he seems to have a grip on the situation he finds himself in. "We know we can't undo it. We know we can't give you back your childhood. We know we can't alter the choices you had to make because of us."

"So you're here hoping to mend the hearts you shattered," I intone, the fury within be burning so white hot that the world feels cold.

"We're here because we're a family," Satsuma argues, the pleading and pain in his eyes showing the depths of the scars he carries within him. "We're not here to compare wounds or brag over who's hurting more. We're here to try to heal each other."

"So you're not going to argue Miwako either had a breakdown or was burned out when she found you," I hear my voice speaking, feel my tongue and jaw moving to allow it. But for the life of me, I don't know why I said it. "You're not going to argue that you were taken against your will and tortured by Mist for some _nefarious_ purpose or other?"

Satsuma swallows, his eyes haunted and body tense. His grip on Miwako looks painfully tight, but she doesn't seem to mind. "It's true," he says, his tone and face lifeless. It's as if he's a ghost, a husk where once stood a man. "But it doesn't make it hurt less, does it."

 _Sigh_. So I was right. That's why they stayed in Mist, why Sarutobi ordered them into therapy before they even returned.

"We need to get going," I drone, standing and motioning for the others to come along. It's not as if talking this to death will help anyone, after all.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 29_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Something semi-important to mention. Aya is getting the support she never got (not like this) in Butterflies and Butterfly Effect. So odds are, she is going to grow far more as a person here than there. Hitomi, after all, knows the scars she bares, and she knows the woman Aya no doubt would have grown into. So there's little Hitomi won't do to get her the support and help she needs.  
_**

 ** _In other words, what Okichi would have done for her in The Butterfly Effect, Hitomi is doing for her long before the worst of the damage is done. Expect a very different Aya to emerge in the course of this story accordingly._**


	30. Our Challenges

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 30 – Our Challenges_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"I didn't ask for this. Not for the title, not for you to be given to me like cattle," I don't mince my words, letting them know exactly where I stand and where they stand with me. "But this is the hand we are dealt. You are my responsibility."

The ten samurais—whose names I'd already forgotten—look confused, as if we're speaking different languages.

"Make no mistake. I have the guards I need." I look over my shoulder, to indicate Keiko and Misato. Team Hitomi decide to work their shoulders, mostly to show I should be indicating them as well. "I have the people I need." I look towards the door, where most of my pack stands. "And we have never had a need for servants."

"Perhaps I could offer—"

I growl at the woman from that shithead's harem, shutting her up instantly. Mi comes to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders to calm me down. _Sigh_ , don't let that one get to you, Aya. Just calm the hell down. "Perhaps you could offer what?" I intone. The woman wisely chooses not to continue. "Hitomi here is the only person who will _ever_ put me to bed. If that is **all** you have to _offer_ , you are **worse** **off** than you first feared."

"Love?" Mi murmurs, giving me a gentle squeeze.

"…" I look away, fighting not to sigh again.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Namiki Hitomi. Aya and I are the alphas of our clan." I can't fight the smile hard enough—I love hearing that. "You will all be training under us. All of you. Even our civilians are expected to learn our ways, though you should have no need of ever using those skills."

"My Lady?" one of the samurais pipes up. Mi nods to him. "I fear I do not understand. What are my brothers to you?"

"We are a shinobi clan. Are you shinobi?" Mi asks, breaking it gently. The man shakes his head almost microscopically. "Then you are civilians."

"I see." He doesn't sound pleased.

"Yes, for now each of you is but a civilian. And we will treat you as we treat all civilians in our clan." The samurais frown. "That means you will train."

"Train, My Lady?" the same man speaks up.

"Yasu-san will be in charge of the civilian and etiquette training. She will give you duties while you are not training. And she and her assistants, Kana and Satoko, are in charge of you until you show yourselves capable of being a proper wolf in and of the pack."

The samurais look almost hopeful. "If I might inquire?"

"Speak plainly."

"What would be expected of a wolf of the Namiki clan?"

"Hmm? Well, that's actually simple. Either you become a medic to save our packmates' and our allies' lives. Or you become a hunter, capable of ending any and all threats."

"When do we start training?"

"Not so fast," I cut in, wanting to handle this myself. "What makes you think you are strong enough to be a wolf?"

"I am not, My Lady. I am not strong enough, fast enough, or skilled enough," he claims, prostrating himself all the same. "Is that not the purpose of training? To grow strong?"

I study them for the first time. The peasant kimonos, the almost uniform black hair, the lack of weapons, the steel in their eyes, and the calluses decorating their hands. "Morning drills start at five. Everyone will be present. Breakfast is at seven. Yasu will assign who will tend to that, but that doesn't excuse you from drills—nothing will, really. You will be explained your training schedules after breakfast."

"You will need to consider what role you will grow into," Mi adds. "But any who wish to be a wolf, will need to dress accordingly. Just as the rest of the Namikis." Their eyes drink in my pack, their uniforms, their masked faces and covered heads. More than that, they study the single grip sticking out of their hip. "Take your time to decide. Discuss your path with me when you are ready. I will provide you with what you will need accordingly."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"CYUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" Ino squeals, hugging the shit out of some dress she found. She dashes down one of the dozens of aisles, disappearing into the changing room beside Mi's to try it on. I don't bother too much with her, focusing more on Mi, even as I shift in the cushioned seat just in front of the curtains hiding both ladies. We're in an upscale clothing store, in the men's section, looking through their selection for what Mi likes. Why Ino decided to use that room is beyond me, but we're the only ones in here regardless.

"I dunno, love," she says, modelling yet another suit for me. "It doesn't feel right."

"Want to try another one?" I ask, doing my best not to drool. She's been showing off every suit mom and I selected for her, letting me see her every curve, every corner, every… everything.

She sighs, defeated. "Maybe we should go back to that other store? They custom tailored everything for me."

"I'm not so sure," mom chimes in, shaking her head. "They were quite expensive."

I run my finger down my masked jawline, drinking in the gorgeous woman before me, how she shifts her weight nervously and mutely prays this day will end sooner rather than later. "Mi's worth it."

"Blacksmith?" Mi begs, tears in her eyes.

"How about we break for lunch. We can swing by a weapon smith after, I think I saw one en route to that store anyway," mom offers, smiling. I think Mi was every bit as impossible as me, last time they went shopping.

"But auntie, we haven't given Aya-chan a makeover!" Ino complains. A cocked eyebrow is all she gets out of me. "Aww, come on Aya! There's a kimono store just up the street."

"Later," I shoot her down. "I'm enjoying my shopping trip."

"At least one of us is," Mi grouses.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"We need tetsubos," Mi gushes, dashing down another aisle. She grabs a dozen of the larger studded clubs, almost prancing back and laying them on the growing pile of weapons. "And tessens. I'm teaching you a kata my mom taught me." She dashes down a different aisle, grabbing pair after pair of twin war fans—enough for everyone in the clan.

I smile, shaking my head in amusement. She's quite happy in here. And given she's selected a healthy pile of jutsu scrolls, weapons' style scrolls, tools, blades (though she is careful not to pick up any blades that I already have sealed), wooden swords for practice, naginatas and yaris (though both are polearms, the naginata has a curved blade, while the yari is longer with a straight blade), targets, straw dummies, and now clubs and fans, I'd say this is her happy place—she's making Ino in a clothing store look tame.

"Ooh! They have custom pieces, too!" Mi gushes, dashing for me and instantly grabbing the blacksmith's attention. "Alright. I need three custom jobs!"

"Alright, miss."

"Do you have chakra conducting alloys?"

"Of course. What elements are you expecting to use with it?"

"Earth and Fire."

"Hmm… Yeah, I've got Dragon's Tongue. Ideal for Fire, and works well with most every other element. Expensive stuff though."

"Alright. I'll need custom trench knives. A matching pair, for my midget's delicate little hands." I huff, blushing as I look the other way. "It needs to be curved, and half the length of her forearm."

"Hmm. That's new. But alright, I'm game." The man scribbles something on his little notepad, eyeballing my forearm and hands before scribbling some more. "Right. What else?"

"I need a proper katana, and twin wakizashis. Same alloy."

"Simple enough." He scribbles some more. "Forward or reverse-edged?"

"Forward."

"Alright. Might take a week or two, and I'll need a retainer." He eyes the pile of weapons on the table. "But, I think I can waive that this time."

"Perfect!" Mi coos, hugging me for the hell of it. She's really happy. "Ooh! I completely forgot to get some extra sharpening kits!" She disappears down another aisle, intent of giving the man the biggest sale of the year.

"If she was half as excited about clothes shopping…?" mom complains, shaking her head.

"Oh. Since I'm here anyway. What alloy would you recommend for samurais who guard a noble clan?" I ask, mostly to pass the time.

"Oi! Aya! They have medical jutsus as well!"

"We have them all!" I call back. I was there, so I made sure to check—we have a copy of each in our library.

"You sure?!" I roll my eyes, turning my attention back to the blacksmith.

"Hmm. I'd recommend Nectar of the Kami. There isn't a samurai alive who wouldn't covet such a blade. I'd need a few drops of blood for each. Tradition, you see."

"Alright." I make a mental note of that, just in case those samurais impress me. I take his notepad and write our Ryuuhou number on it. "Be sure to call us when our order is ready."

"Will do, miss…?"

"Namiki."

"Miss Namiki," he murmurs, writing it down on his notepad. "Well, lemme start tallying."

"Two hundred eighty-four thousand five hundred Ryou," I say, sure of myself. "If you're serious about not needing that retainer, of course." He narrows his eyes, taking out a long receipt pad and jotting it all down, one at a time. He keeps murmuring numbers, adding them up as he goes. It's almost five minutes later that he reaches the same number I did.

Mi comes a second later, dropping a few dozen sharpening kits, caltrops, and blank sealing scrolls onto the counter beside the already impressive pile. The man raises an eyebrow at me. "Sixteen thousand two hundred."

He shakes his head, adding it all up and coming to just that number.

Amateur.

"Can we go to a furniture store after this? I really want to set up that meeting room!" No, you just refuse to go back into a clothing store.

"After. And if you don't behave, I'll drag you into another clothing store when we're done."

"Mercy?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Mom and I decide to go easy on poor Mi, so we do the furniture store and a crockery story that advertises a blow-out sale first. We even let her nose around in what looks like a shinobi outfitters—though it's far more likely just a specialised travel store of some sort.

But, alas, we do need those extra suits for her, so we drag her into the store all the same. Momochi seems highly amused with it all, for some reason—he's been curiously quiet all day.

"Stop being such a baby. It's just one store," I get on her case.

"This is the fourth of those 'one stores'," she whimpers, looking towards the door we just entered longingly.

"Your own fault. I loved how you looked in those suits." I get an attendant's attention, already explaining what we need. "She likes men's fashion, but I want it tailored to her form. Three-piece suits primarily, and I want nothing but silk touching her skin. Understood?"

"Yes, My Lady. Right this way please." We're led over to a separate room with ceiling to floor mirrors and a little stand so Mi's on display for me. I take my customary seat, waiting for the show to begin.

"Lady Namiki?"

"Not interested," I drone for the umpteenth time today. It's like this whole city wants to be my friend. Pests, I swear to the gods.

"Forgive my insistence, My Lady, but I represent someone inter—"

"Fascinating. But still not interested. Now go away." I flick my gaze in this one's direction, finding some maid-looking woman who doesn't look remotely interested in giving up just yet.

She doesn't speak, but her eyes show she wants to. She's desperate for something she believes I can give her, if only I'd hear her out. So _sad_.

"What is it your lord so desperately needs?" Mi asks, teasing an exasperated sighing from me.

She beams, glad she has my attention. "He wishes to discuss the acquisition of a selection of slaves, if My Lady is interested. Soldiers, guards, and samurais are also available for your perusal, should you prefer the martial variety."

"Who is this lord?" Mi asks, obviously grateful for the distraction. I roll my eyes, but settle in for the show all the same. Some name is mentioned, some numbers are discussed. I'm far more interested in the suit the tailor suggests might be well received. Mi tries on the waistcoat, making a comment here and there about something—I don't even know if she's talking to the maid or the tailor. The coat comes next, giving her that refined look I love seeing on her. She looks like she belongs in a store like this, buying anything that catches her eye.

"Aya, sweetie?" I noise, wondering what mom wants, and why she has her hand on my arm to get my attention. "They want to bring the _merchandise_ to your home so you can take a look."

"If that's what Mi wants to do?" I redirect it to Mi, wondering why her cocky little smirk steals the air right from my lungs.

"Tomorrow afternoon. Three o'clock sharp. And no armed guards will be permitted entrance. Your lord no doubt knows where to find us." There's something being said, like the buzzing of a fly I can't swat for some reason. "No, your lord will have to be there in person. I do not deal with middlemen." Bzzz bzz bbzzz zbbzzz zbzbzzzbzbzbb. For fuck's sake! Go! Away!

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sanyo turns to his beloved, his love for her as obvious as it is all-consuming. He begs her to reconsider, that his family is very traditional and that he should better ask her father's permission to court her. She insists that they should run away together, to elope, that she's already pregnant with his child.

A guy wrote this play—no doubt in my mind. I turn to Mi, giving her a deadpan look. She laughs, snaking an arm around my middle and pulling me to her. "The geishas are on in ten minutes. Be patient." I grumble, demanding ice cream if I'm going to sit through this hog wash! Mi waves over a waitress, ordering the biggest and chocolaty-est dessert they have, with a side of ice cream.

True to her word, when my mountain of chocolate ice cream—complete with whipped cream, cookie crumble sprinkles, and a wafer—arrives, two geishas come out onto the stage. One has a flute, the other walks over to the koto to one side. A third soon follows, sticks in her hand to beat the drums over to the other side.

I smile, relaxing into Mi's warmth as I start spooning us up some chocolaty goodness. I feel mom and daddy's gaze on me, but I'm too comfy to care too much.

The flute starts up, a soaring high note like a bird taking flight. The strings chime in, as if the bird flaps its wings to stay airborne. And finally, a geisha in a men's suit comes out to the standing ovation of the crows—that last group **sucked**!

She motions for the crowd to settle down, though it still takes almost a minute of applause before her voice can be heard. "Thank you, Lords and Ladies. Tamanagoya Geisha Company is proud to present, Lady Tanaka's Passions!" A smile tugs at my lips as I'm scooping up Mi's share.

I love this play! Though I've read it a thousand times, never have I seen it performed live!

The announcer fades into the woodwork, as the black-clad stagehands bring out the props and set up the stage. This theatre has no curtains, sadly, but that is pretty common.

It's just as Lady Tanaka receives her lover's letter that I find myself scraping the bottom of the dish. I roll my eyes, but manage another spoonful for Mi all the same. Even as she accepts my offering, she's already waving down the waitress. An order of breaded chicken, eggrolls, a salad, two rice balls, and another bottle of sake get jotted down, before the waitress leaves with a glowing smile.

"My Lady?"

"Mi, don't answer. It only encourages them," I snipe, pouring us both another saucer of sake.

"Forgive me, My Lady. I don't mean—"

The announcer comes out, cutting into the scene and announcing a brief intermission. I turn to the man, glaring daggers into him. "And that's just what I mean. Acknowledge they exist, and the play is cut off just as Lady Tanaka was reading her letter! How, pray tell, do you want us to find out what Ichito wishes to tell her if you interrupt?"

The sparse crowd doesn't seem to mind, though. They mostly take the time to order something, or to head outside for something or other. "They are magnificent, aren't they?"

"They were better in scene than in your words. What of it?" I snap, glowering at him.

"Ah, forgive me. I am Lord Dansu, owner of this establishment and the geisha company you seem to admire."

Lord Dansu? Uh huh, and I'm the Earth Daimyo. "I'd say it's a pleasure, but I don't like to lie."

"Ah, forgive me. I'll get straight to the point then."

"You can still leave," I say.

"I am looking to sell the company."

"And I'm looking to enjoy my evening. I guess we're both out of luck."

"Come on, love. We'll try a different theatre. This one seems fraught with interruptions," Mi suggests. I nod, making to stand.

"Lords and Ladies!" Then announcer comes back, saving us from the piece of shit that can't understand to back the fuck off! The few that scampered off come back quickly, taking their seats. "On with the show!"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"No, Ichito, you can't!" Lady Tanaka begs, tears spilling down her cheeks. "We mustn't do this anymore." She wears her broken heart on her sleeve, yet her eyes beg him not to leave her all the same. She craves him, but she knows she can never truly have him.

"My Lady, how can we ever deny this? Deny ourselves all that bring us to life?" he asks, moving to take her into his arms, but she moves away, hugging herself to keep from falling apart. He comes to her anyway, slow and sure as he lays his hands on her shoulders. "Whatever else we are, Aiko, we are too lost in each other's touch to ever hope to walk away."

Childhood sweethearts, separated because when was sold as a concubine to a lesser daimyo. They can't ever get enough of each other, but she's sworn to her 'lord', no matter she can't stand him.

"Please, Aiko. Come with me," Ichito begs. "We'll go somewhere. Somewhere far away from this place. Where they've never heard of our names, where we can be together. Forever." She turns slightly, showing how desperately she wants to tell him yes. "I know you're pregnant. And I don't care if it's his."

"Aww," I gush, scooping up some more chicken—the last piece on the plate. I offer Mi this one, and I take the last eggroll.

"I just want you, Aiko." Lady Tanaka turns to him, not fighting him as he takes her into his arms this time. "Come with me." She nods this time, jerky and obviously scared of the implications, but needing him as desperately as he needs her.

I turn to Mi, finding her gaze hasn't left mine since the last time I checked—she's far more entertained watching me than the actresses. She offers a worried little smile, as if she thinks she's in trouble—I'm more amused than anything.

To make sure she knows where she stands, I give her a peck on the lips—nothing steamy, but enough to show her I'm in no way upset—before turning back to the scene.

Just as the two leads kiss, as their passions burst out into the world, uncaring who can see them, I feel Mi starting a little trouble of her own. A kiss, right on the tip of my spine as I lean forward to fish out some more salad to munch on. I shiver—she knows that's one of my weak spots.

As if that isn't enough, she gently scrapes the back of nails against my neck, moving my braid out of the way. It seems innocent enough, but my sopping wet panties disagree. Every time she touches me like that, I think about how she does that just as she's about to unzip me and explore every forbidden nook only she's ever had the privilege of navigating.

"You're having a naughty thought," she murmurs, her lips almost against my ear as she speaks. Her breath kisses every my face, travelling down my neck, down my chest. I could swear I feel her searing breath on my inner thigh as well.

My whole body reddens—thank the gods for the low lighting. "Did I tell you? Michiko taught me the enhanced smell jutsu the other day." My womanhood twitches, already aching for her to put me to bed properly. "Hmm? Did your scent just spike? I can't help but wonder what you're thinking about in a place like this."

"If you don't behave I'm dragging you into the ladies' room to finish what you started."

"Check please!"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Maybe it's the sake. Maybe it's how we spent the day doting on each other with everything we could. Maybe it's how she laid out my clothes for me—kimono, underwear, and even body spray—before taking me into the bathroom to wash up for our evening out with the clan. Or maybe it's the teasing little touches she keeps sneaking in when I'm trying to hurry us home.

All I know for sure is that I'm fit to be tied by the time our gate comes into view. Sakiko and Hoshie are rushing ahead, but too slow for me to justify a body flicker. And I can't bring myself to leave them out in the city without me keeping an eye on them. So I pace myself as best I can.

The second we get everyone inside, however, Mi scoops me up and the next thing I know we're away from the crowd. Up into our bedroom, behind closed doors. "Someone seems—"

I silence her with a kiss, hot and steamy and needy as I start unbuttoning her jacket. She just stands there, dripping wet just like me, but making no move whatsoever to out the fire she started.

Wants to play hard to get, huh?

I pull back, slipping down out of her embrace onto my feet. I saunter over to our futons, tugging layer after layer off me and leaving a trail as I go. Until at last I'm down to my long-since ruined panties. I plop onto our new bed, with my back on the silk sheets and my knees kept together, blocking her from my vision.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I spread my knees, spying her lustful gaze taking in every bit of me. And yet, she doesn't move and is still fully clothed. Let's see how long you can hold out, Mi.

I slide my hand up and down my tummy, teasing myself with my feather light touch. I quickly decide I'm more than ready, so I spread my knees farther as my finger ghosts over the hem of my panties.

I feel her eyes following my hand, my fingers, as my first gasp jumps out from out of nowhere. I take off my glasses, no longer able to see her, but imagining the scene she must be seeing. The way my mouth hangs open, the mute moans still all too obvious. The lump in my panties, right in the middle of the wet spot that keeps wriggling and dancing about, teasing louder and louder moans out of me. The way my toes curl up as I thrust my nether region up into the air to further tempt her to come have a taste.

The tiny glimpses of my puffy and glistening sex, peeking out from behind the curtain.

Two hands grab the hips of my last article of clothing, pealing it off me in one go. It doesn't stop me from tending to my needs, though. Nor does it stop me from slipping a digit into the depths, a hot blush stealing across my body at the erotic display I so freely give her.

Dropping down onto my butt, I lift my legs to let her strip me properly. She only pulls out one of my legs, before diving in head first. Her hunger has gotten the best of her at last—took her ass long enough.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I pace through the lines of training partners, checking their form, gauging their power, correcting anything I feel is wrong. They've been at it for a grand total of five minutes, and already I see fists and elbows red and raw from the abuse of this basic workout—I have them trading punches for elbows. Still, they've been doing proper stretches and we've gone through a kata Mi says works well for keeping limber.

"Break!" I announce, getting relieved sighs as the pairs pull apart. "Congratulations, people. You've taken your first step to being a packmate." They look quite pleased, obviously misunderstanding how long and arduous the journey will be before I truly see them as one of mine.

After all, I'm not nearly as desperate for a pack as I was when the others stormed into my life—as bad as that sounds.

"Make no mistake, though. You have a long way to go before you can call yourselves a wolf. Just look at Michiko and Zeitou. At Eimi and her brothers." The five of them aren't doing the warm-up I just stopped these guys from. They're having an spar, thrashing through the moves as they trade a constant flurry of blows. "I don't know what you make of Muay Thai, but it isn't a delicate dance. It's a brawl. It's a way for wolves to sharpen their fangs in preparation for the strongest of prey. And that is all a wolf ever cares to hunt, strong prey. We don't hunt rabbits, we don't hunt the innocent. We go for the biggest and baddest."

The kids look star struck, their eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree. "But here's the thing. You see. While they are fighting pure hand-to-hand. That isn't where we shine. A wolf doesn't hunt only with the skill to take down our prey. We hunt with enhanced hearing, enhanced smell. And we have a jutsu to see in pitch black night."

The newbies look quite excited at the prospect. "But pups don't hunt." The majority looks crestfallen, but the ten samurais only seem even more determined. "So here's how we're going to do it. Any wolf that wishes to hunt, keep up this drill at full tilt for ten minutes, and we'll start you on weapons. But this isn't the only path. After breakfast, you will start on calligraphy."

The women all look quite happy about that. I should probably tell them about how this is just as violent, just as volatile as Muay Thai training. Meh. They'll figure that out on their own—or at least Sarutobi should break them in.

"After lunch, you will start on proper chakra training." Hoshie looks excited by that. I smile, beckoning to her and scooping her up the second she gets close enough. "Then after dinner, you will begin your Namiki meditations. Mind you. These are the trainings I will monitor and these are mandatory for all of our clan. After our sessions, you will either report to Yasu or to Hitomi. I am not getting involved in who goes where. So if Yasu and Hitomi agree where you will be going? Deal with it."

"My Lady? If I may inquire." I turn to the speaker, the wife of one of the samurais. I nod to her. "Would one assigned to Lady Yasu be able to earn an assignment to Lady Hitomi?"

"Yes. If that wolf proves themself capable. Being assigned to me is going to be harder, though. After all. I will only have need of proper medics. And to earn that title, you will have to study and train for years."

"Aww. What about your genjutsu prowess?" Michiko asks, obviously having backed out of the spar.

"Any who are ready to learn that, I will teach. But they aren't on your level, Chiko."

"Heh, she's more asking for herself," Zeitou teases, earning a playful swat from his sister. "Fine. For us. I won't lie, Aya-sama, I look forward to your trainings."

"Yeah, yeah." I wave them both off, fighting the smile as best I can. "Discuss it with Mi. If she feels she needs to focus on the newbies? Then you five are with me. And Yasu-nee? I believe you wanted to start organizing who's yours?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Oi, Aya-sama!" Santa greets me, tossing three scrolls in quick succession. His long ponytail jiggles with the action, but he's too amused to be focused on that or the scrolls.

"You got here quick. Eager to spoil your darling?" I tease, setting the scrolls on the table and out of the way.

"With a place like this to call home for the next two weeks?" he teases, grinning. I shrug, getting back down to the scroll with the fifteenth Type-Four storage seal. There are eight other small scrolls, each filled with the same seals. "Hmm? I didn't know you were into sealing?"

I shrug. Mi was right, though. It's just so much damn easier now that I'm working with my left hand. I'm not as fast as with my right—stupid old wrinkly shithead kept annoying me to work faster and faster—but it's much neater now.

"So, you _are_ more dangerous that you present yourself to be." I roll my eyes, finishing the seal and starting on the next.

As if on cue, the group I was hoping for comes strolling into the meeting room. I finish up the seal, long-form, making the seal of confrontation and flooding it with my chakra. The seal glows an almost hot pink, the matrixes organizing themselves into the typical black sole kanji with a red circle around it.

Reika sits beside me, her eyes glued to what I'm doing. Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi, Atsu, and Tsuji sit across from me, each cross-legged to the low table.

"Reika. Unseal everything in those three scrolls," I order, nodding to the items Santa just brought. "I need the gloves. One pair for each of you."

 **knock knock**

Keiko and Misato enter, with mom a step behind them. "Three extra pairs, I assume?" Reika asks. I smile and nod, getting back down to the next seal.

"I expect you five to start picking out your weapons. I'll have your gloves ready by dinner, so you'll have your weapons and your storage scrolls on you at all times. Keep at least one weapon unsealed, and you'll need to figure out for yourself if you want more leg and/or hip pouches. Reika, however, will need two hip pouches." I give her a meaningful look.

"Of course, milady," she agrees easily, already taking a hip pouch she just unsealed and setting it on the group beside her. The next seal has the gloves, so she starts sorting through them and offers everyone a pair to try on. When I finish the seal, and activate it, I roll up the scroll and set it with the others.

I set the two brushes I've been using aside for now, taking a marker to work with. I start giving them each a scroll. "These are specialised seals. When you activate them the first time, they will mark your chakra signature, and you will be the only capable of using them. Make sure you seal and unseal something in each seal within the next week or so, otherwise the matrix will collapse and it becomes useless."

Everyone looks at me funny. "Anyway. I need to mark your gloves, so put 'em on."

"Aya, sweetie? I need you for the afternoon," mom says as she's pulling the gloves snug.

"No can do. Mi has a meeting, and I plan on being there for it. But tomorrow is fine."

"Tonight after dinner?" She seems determined to have me to herself.

"After I show the clan the meditation."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I sit to the low table, smiling at Tetsuhiko and Shijimi. Everyone seems quite at ease, with the geisha playing a soothing song to set the mood for us. "I'm so glad you came to see us," I say.

The man and woman standing behind them are familiar, though we've never been introduced—of the twelve, no doubt.

"More than you know," Mi agrees, her eyes hard. "I have a meeting later today with a Lord Kasamatsu Hideyori and his wife. They wish to sell us slaves, including samurais, soldiers… the works. Given how determined they were to contact us, I suspect they are desperate for money for some reason."

"Hideyori, you say?" Tetsuhiko murmurs, stroking his chin. Ha! He really does that!

"Hiko-chan, you don't think…?" Shijimi trails off. There's a deeper story to this.

"He's willing to sell his own people for the sake of an unknown goal. Yet he has nothing he could gain from such…" _Sigh_. Boring. "Hitomi. I need you to investigate this for me. Purchase every servant and slave he offers, and give me a list of names and prices. I will reimburse you."

"As you wish, but we will not take responsibility for all of them," Mi bargains. I rest my chin on the back of my folded hands.

"Of course. Those you do not desire will be given jobs in keeping with their capabilities."

My eyes wander towards the geishas, the way their fingers and hands dance about as they produce the sweet sounds wafting about the room. I'd hoped this would be a social call, that we could talk about little things, that we could dig into those little chocolate sweets Shijimi brought with her.

"Yes, Hideyoshi has been most defiant lately. I've suspected him of harbouring inclinations to rebellion." My eyes snap to Tetsuhiko. "Hmm? No, Aya-chan, you are not to get involved in the investigation. If you wish to help, see how far you can push him during acquisition."

"Michiko?" The bluette is beside me instantly. "You, Zeitou and Eimi will start getting ready. Infiltration, so travel light. And have Atsu and Tsuji report to me when they're done with their training."

"At once." Michiko's gone, but I don't miss the pride in her tone.

"Reika."

"Milady?"

"I need the samurai in the dojo. Mom and Miwako, as well. I'll also need Ensui, Kana and Satoko for the meeting. Ensure they are informed, and dressed in their finest."

"At once." Reika rushes out of the room.

"Zabuza, Haku, Keiko, Misato. You're with me."

"I can handle this, love."

"I know you can," I assure her, kissing her neck and getting to my feet. "The thing is. I'm your support. And I am supporting you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Ten new wolves stand before me, each having a katana and wakizashi tucked into their sash and held on their left hip. Each has a yari, the straight-bladed polearm standing a good metre taller than the wielder. Each wears our uniform, with the kanji for 'wolf' proudly displayed between their shoulders and their face and hair covered.

Reika moves beside me, wordlessly asking if I need anything. "Misato and Keiko. You two will need to dress up, something that would make mom feel comfortable sending you to a royal banquet. But you'll need to be armed. You two will sit beside me as my last line of defence. Haku. You'll need to do much the same, but you'll be standing behind me. Zabuza, unseal your blade. I'll need you to act as the head of my guard for this meeting. And Hatake, stop acting as if you aren't here."

The air in the corner blurs, revealing Hatake and Hana.

"Hatake, your interest in my sister is boiling over. So much so that Hideyori is going to walk in on you asking for the right to court her, or marry her. Come up with something creative, and don't tell her about it yet. Her reaction needs to be authentic." And this will also solve the mystery of what they're becoming.

"Alright," he agrees, nodding.

"Oi, midget. You know I can't do much with ten guards?" Zabuza complains.

"I know. So you arrange them to maximize the impression of security on the incoming, or you set them up as a proper guard and let them see how desperately we need the manpower. Either way is fine."

"Che," he snorts, highly amused. "Alright. You lot, with me."

"Hana." The Inuzuka nods, wonder in her eyes as Zabuza strolls out with ten properly armed—though not properly armoured—guards. "I need you to organize the genins of Team Seven, Eight, and Ten. Your job is to fill in whatever gaps Zabuza leaves. Don't get in his way, but make sure he knows you think he can't do his job without your group for backup. Ensure all Konoha forehead protectors are on display if Hideyori happens onto you or someone under your command. And I would appreciate it if you were to hint to every jounin on premises that you have a bad feeling about the incoming group."

"Alright." Hana body flickers out of the barracks, her curiosity almost gaining physical a presence.

With most of the pieces in place for the perfect mess of disjointed guards and no clear hierarchy, I turn to mom and Miwako. "Mom, I need you with me. You will be my advisor, and you'll need to be a vocal one. Think you can handle that?" I tease, smirking. She snorts, her eyes lighting up with mischief.

"Miwako. You need keep all the pups busy in the front yard." I look to Reika, who starts digging out hip and leg pouches for her. "If you need any blades, now's the time. And if you run out of little games, showing them some simple kata is preferred. So you'll need at least a tanto and kunai. And I want you to keep ten blunted kunai on you, for the pups."

"You want him to see Namiki hidden jutsus?"

"Only if you can't help it. That's why it has to be you."

"All the new scents. The jounins being extra careful. And just enough friction to set every genin on edge. You're betting on Hoshie getting defensive." I nod, agreeing completely. "I'll need twin wakizahis. And two hip and leg pouches. Hoshie knows that's my missions' gear. She'll be slightly more on edge for it, but as long as I'm not called away from her, she'll be alright."

"Take Satsuma with you, just in case. And if anyone gets close, show them how momma-wolf feels about that."

Miwako smirks, her eyebrow elevated; _like you had to ask_?

"She'll also need two targets and a training dummy," I tell Reika. There's some jingling and bags being shifted back and forth, so I know Miwako's being sorted out.

"Right. I'll need you four next." I beckon to four samurai wives. "You four will stand guard by the front door of bother barracks. And I'll need the rest of you ladies armed as well. If anyone gets in here that presents themselves as a threat, assume they mean to harm your children and act accordingly."

Reika offers Miwako the last of the things she'll need, turning to me for further instructions. "Every woman here will need a tanto. These four will also need a naginata."

"My Lady?" I nod to the woman, wondering what she needs. "We are also learned in tessen forms. Both single and twin."

"Good. Twin tessens, each. Guard your children well."

"All the clan, My Lady," the woman corrects, bowing low.

And so, the pieces are in place. So, Kasamatsu, how many layers will you see, and how many will you see through?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The stage once used by the geishas is now covered in tatami mats and a square low table. I sit with my back to the wall, with Keiko and Misato to either side of me, each dressed as my courtesans. Haku is behind me, as is Reika.

Little Reika doesn't look any different, dressed in our uniform, but I know she has twin trench knives strapped to her lower back, and her gloves have all my bags with weapons sealed in them.

Zabuza himself leans against the edge of the stage, his oversized blade resting beside him in plain view of any that would enter the room. Daddy doesn't like how tense the air feels, so he comes strutting in with mom. When mom sits beside me, he decides he's got nothing better to do and sits to my other side.

And just in time for Hatake to enter, with Yasu on his arm as if they're going out. I sniff, smelling a plethora of unknown scents on the wind—Kasamatsu has arrived.

I cock an eyebrow, pretending I don't know what Hatake is here for. "Aya-chan. There's something I needed to discuss with you."

"I'm listening." I rest my chin on my palm. I sniff again—Kasamatsu is entering with a woman. No guards, but I smell steel on him—he's armed.

"I've come for your blessing." Hatake keeps it vague, making sure his voice carries so our guests will know I'm already entertaining someone.

"Oh?" Yasu blushes up a storm, gripping Hatake's arm. She's emotional, but not upset—she wants this, it seems.

"I wish to invite her out to dinner. Given your understandable protectiveness of your clan, I thought it wise to ask for your blessing before I do." I sniff—Kasamatsu is outside, and it isn't soundproof, so he can at least hear voices thrumming through the heavy wood.

"And how does Yasu-nee feel about that?" I ask, meeting her nervous gaze.

"I… I don't know, little sister. He is very sweet, but I…" I nod. She's willing, but she just isn't ready for something official like this.

"Perhaps a middle ground?" I suggest, smiling to set Yasu-nee at ease. "Hatake can spend more time with you. Show you the grounds? A picnic by the koi pond? That way you can take your time to decide what you want."

Yasu-nee relaxes, releasing a breath she probably didn't know she was holding. "That sounds lovely, little sister."

"Excellent. I'll let you decide for yourselves when. And Hatake, you might wish to discuss the next step with daddy as well." I wrap my arm around daddy's arm, to let him see I'm not against him being a protective father to my siblings.

"Privately, preferably," daddy drawls, glaring dully.

"Of course," Hatake agrees easily, bowing. "What do you think, Yasu-chan? Would you like to go for a walk?"

"I… I never did see the gardens," she admits, blushing.

"A shame." He turns the pair of them towards the door, just as a green-haired woman with an amazed air about her—she's never been in this nice a manor, it seems—and a black-haired princely-type with more rings than fingers. "Are you hungry? We could arrange something light if you like?"

"Famished," she gushes, her eyes smiling just for him. Okay, no sudden moves for her. She needs to hold the reins for her to be comfortable. Hatake, I hope you're taking notes.

"Should we pass by the kitchens?" It would seem he is. Interesting.

"Lady Namiki. May I present Lord Kasamatsu Hideyori and Lady Kasamatsu," one of the new wolves announces, bowing low. He moves out of the way, but shows he is staying put for extra security—something Hatake definitely didn't require, and given the gears turning in Kasamatsu's eyes, I think he realises that.

I look to my left, wondering if Reika will know to speak up. "Lady Hitomi's appointment, My Lady. Should I fetch her?" she asks.

I nod, resting my chin on my palm again. "The slave dealer?" mom asks, her dislike of the thought.

"Of a sorts, My Lady. I am of the Ichihara clan." He says that proudly, too proudly. Yet he doesn't bear their name.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" mom asks.

"Merely a personal introduction, miss…?" He looks down on women.

"Lady Yoshino, matriarch of the Nara clan, and Aya-chan's advisor," mom snipes, already hating this man with every fibre of her being. I don't blame her, he's insufferable.

"I see. Please forgive my poor manners, Lady Nara." High born, but uninformed. He's an outside child, given only enough to keep up appearances. "Lady Namiki, as my handmaid informed you, I wish to offer a selection of slaves and guards."

That isn't protocol. He knows I know why he's here—he wouldn't have been let in otherwise. He means to hurry this along.

"So I hear," I drawl.

"Sweetie, really. Slaves?" mom starts up, not hiding her disgust.

"I have little interest. This is Mi's guest, she'll handle this," I say, as uninterested in this as I can be. It isn't a minute later that Mi enters, shadowed by her team and already loudly apologizing for taking so long. Reika moves back to her spot behind me, no doubt itching for further instruction—I'll no doubt call on her in a minute.

"Lord Kasamatsu, I presume?" Mi asks, bowing low to him. "If you could show me the merchandise?" Mom snorts derisively, growing more irritable with each interaction. She's only going to act out more and more as this continues, I just need to make sure Mi stays within hearing distance for full effect.

"Of course," he assures her, motioning for her to follow him out and away from my disinterest and mom's disapproval.

"Mi."

"Will you trust me in this, love?" she asks, worried.

I don't react, my lazy gaze fixed on Mi.

"Alright. Heizo, please escort Lord Kasamatsu." The new wolf bows, motioning the intruder through the door. The second the door closes, Mi turns to me smirking. "Afraid I'll find a cute little number?"

I snort, but don't answer. The woman fidgets nervously. She's obviously noticed Mi's a woman, and she's speaking like my lover—as she should. "Are you a sample he brought?" Mi asks, unnerving the woman further.

She stutters and stammers out something about being his wife, but I'm far more interested in her hands—short nails with little chips, no rings, little nicks and scars decorating it, pealing skin here and there—working class, likely kept so busy she has little time to pamper herself. Odd.

There's a knock, and the door swings open to reveal a hundred and twenty people—given or take—entering behind the new wolf and Kasamatsu. They are arranged according to their dress. The rags—slaves no doubt—are to one side. Beside them are the civilian-smelling ones with good posture—servants. Then come the ones with light armours, but no blades. The stand ramrod straight, a casual awareness about them to show they are at ease and still on guard. Beside them is the last group, they bear a sash meant for katana, and carrying themselves just as the soldiers beside them—samurais.

"You certainly brought the numbers we'll need," Mi praises. "Don't you think so, love?"

"Quantity isn't the issue," I drawl, unimpressed.

"I assure you, they are of the highest quality," Kasamatsu claims. He's met only with silence. A long, tense silence. "Perhaps a demonstration, then?"

"Reika?" She moves out of the room again, knowing to call Kana and Satoko. The three return in but a moment, and Reika escorts them to the low table over to one side. The ladies make themselves comfortable. Reika disappears again, returning with a tray with an earthen tea pot and traditional wooden teacups. Without being told, she sets the tray on the low table, well away from Kana and Satoko.

I watch with disinterest as Kasamatsu orders someone to pour it. I'm even less interested in their jerky paces and how the teapot jitters in their grasp. It's when the servant stands back, but doesn't return to line-up, that intrigues me. Kana keeps chattering on about this or that, but poor Satoko only nods now and again, unwilling to speak in front of so many unknowns.

They sip at their leisure, in no hurry for another cupful. Kasamatsu stands motionless with a gloating and boastful air about him.

The ladies' cups are near empty. This is where the line is drawn between a good servant and an excellent one. The man refills them both without a word, moving back again until he's needed. Excellent indeed—if they no longer want tea, they'd stop drinking or in extreme cases tell him not to.

The others will offer the same results, no doubt.

"They lack guards," I drawl, wondering how he'll handle this. They lack weapons, and guards without arms are mere decoration.

"Of course," Kasamatsu agrees, eager to please. He's used to taking orders. Whoever needs this money isn't him—he's the gopher meant to gather it. Ten soldiers are ordered to form a perimeter around the ladies. Even unarmed they make a decent meat-shield, being his point. He disregards life—whatever his goal, bloodshed isn't to be ruled out.

"Perhaps some ambience?" Kasamatsu suggests, clapping. Music starts up as four of the servants make their way forward. One with a flute, one with a shamisen—I prefer the koto, but she plucks the strings beautifully all the same—another with a drum in hand, and the last singing a lullaby almost. I recognize them—the geishas from the teahouse. Kasamatsu must own the place, and seemingly the performers as well.

Another comes forward, the announcer still in her men's suit, asking the ladies if they are enjoying their afternoon and if they have any requests.

"Ooh! A dance! I love dances!" Kana gushes. "Something vibrant!" Another three ladies walk forward, actresses from the play, including the two leads I was so taken with. They each take out a fan, and start dancing. I don't pay them any mind—I'm far more interested in understanding why he'd be willing to sell them. As disgusting as owning a person is, he'd make more money over a long period of time if he utilises their talents properly. Selling could only mean he needs a lot of cash and quickly.

Curiously, the soldiers don't get out of the way—trained to follow orders to the letter and never waver. That is, until the one who'd introduced himself as 'Lord Dansu' orders them well out of the way 'so the dance may be enjoyed _optimally_ '—odd wording from an odd man. Predictably, they don't move until Kasamatsu orders them to.

That is the kind of fanaticism nobles would prefer—I'm not sold, though. I look to mom, wondering what she makes of all this, but she's too disgusted to care. Maybe daddy?

"They've proven themselves soulless robots. Can they think?" he asks loud enough for Kasamatsu to hear him. I disagree, the music is beautiful, and the dancers are elegant—perhaps they simply need a gentle hand to coax them out into the world.

"Name a challenge, any challenge," Kasamatsu offers.

"You're in a sinking ship and everyone here is on it. There are two lifeboats, each with space for eight. You are delegated to assigning who gets into each lifeboat. Who do you choose?"

"…" the foremost samurai opens his mouth, quickly shutting it. "What are the weather conditions, how rough is the sea, and how far are we from land?"

Daddy leans back, clearly satisfied with that answer. They aren't Naras, but they aren't idiots either.

"What of their wives?" mom demands. "And their children! Splitting this many families is barbaric!"

"That would cost more," Kasamatsu bargains. Okay, so he isn't an idiot.

"I am not going to even listen to claims of that being a concern!" mom gets on my case, not waiting for my opinion on the matter.

"I would hear numbers before I listen to prices," daddy warns.

"There's wisdom in that. Lord Kasamatsu?"

"Fifty-three samurais. A hundred and twelve soldiers, of which sixty-four are trained as sentries. Two hundred thirty-one servants, of which fourteen are trained as geishas. Four hundred slaves, ranging from farmhands to cleaners to blacksmiths." Those are people, you piece of shit. "Of these total, only the slaves include women and children, though I would of course be remiss to ignore the geishas among the servants."

"I would need to inspect each individually, to ensure they are in good health," I drawl, making a mental note of the numbers. "And I'll need a proper inventory, with all pertinent information of course."

"Of course," he agrees, bowing low. "I shall have the paper work ready by morning. As for inspection…?" He seems unsure about that himself. He likely never cared for such things—if they aren't broken, don't fix them.

"Perhaps delivering them and staying as our guest until inspection is complete is an agreeable option?" Mi offers.

"You are most gracious, My Lady," he agrees, bowing. "If Lady Namiki finds this offer beyond reproach, I would gladly deliver all you request by morning, and stay until My Lady has inspected each before approval." There's a joy hidden just below his surface. An elation so consuming that he's clearly not just after the money—though I don't doubt he's after that as well.

He thinks we're playing into his hand. Oh, he is just a treat. "Nothing is beyond reproach," I drawl, acting bored and uninterested.

Mi turns to me, her eyes begging me to trust her. "Please, love? We could really use them."

I look to her, knowing she understands the eyesore of a trap we'd be walking into, yet determined to do this anyway. Well, it's not as if I have any real plans for the coming days. _Sigh_. "If that's what you want." Her eyes light up, her lips curl up into a beaming smile. This isn't pretending, she's ecstatic that I trust her in this. "The ones already present, leave them here. I will start my examination tonight after dinner."

"You are a most generous host, Lady Namiki," Kasamatsu bows low, before turning to his people. "Until further notice, you are all under Lady Namiki's command. You will obey her as you obey me, understood?" When they salute, or whatever, he is shown out with his wife, leaving every able body in our care. Tetsuhiko's going to _love_ my report on this.

Kasamatsu doesn't get far before I smell paralysing fear oozing off him. I sniff deep, wondering what has him like that—it's just Miwako and Hoshie coming this way. They enter without warning, Miwako carrying a tense little ball of fur.

"Aww, what happened?" I ask, gushing instead of being worried. The entire room reeks of fear as Hoshie starts wriggling to get out of her mother's protective embrace.

My cute little fanged terror starts grumbling and whining, complaining about how so many threats barged in here. She gets out some kind of complaint about how she doesn't like so many unknowns near her sister.

Miwako jumps up onto the little stage, letting Hoshie almost fall out of her embrace and into mine—mom and daddy don't shy away with my little cutie so close. "Well, little sister. You're here now, aren't you?" I humour her. "So there's no one in the world that can lay a finger on me."

She whines, hating that I'm not taking her seriously. "Are you saying a Namiki would ever let someone harm their pack?" I challenge. She turns, looking at her mother, then she looks at me again and the guards I keep so close to me. Her eyes soften, the tension eases. I smile, letting her snuggle up to me. She shakes her head, no, and buries her nose in my neck to breathe me in. She shifts and shrinks, undoing the transformation at last, but her now furless face and nose are still right against my neck. "Poor baby's all worn out."

With the final warning in place, I turn my attention back to Kasamatsu and the others. They've seen what a pup can do, they've seen how little my people react to it, and they've heard the undeniable truth: you don't scare us.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 30_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: This could be interesting. The next chapter might end up being significantly longer, because I have quite bit to cover. R &R darlings.  
_**


	31. Our Changes

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 31 – Our Changes_**

 ** _A/N: Just a reminder. Things are going to change for Aya. After next chapter, things are going to be completely different for her and her clan, and her relationship with Hitomi, of course. But, that change is going to stabilize her life and her role in the Land of Fire._**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I stab the scroll, marking it with the final punctuation in my report. Setting the pen aside, I roll up the document and toss it to Mi and drink in those gathered in our new meeting room. Our little wolves are lined up against the wall, their wives sitting just in front of them, with their pups cuddling in their mommy's embrace—just as Sakiko is cuddled up in mine, and Hoshie is in Miwako's.

Other than the group Kasamatsu left behind, everyone is in here—other than the ex-harem and the 'servants', of course, seeing as I don't trust them and they wouldn't be able to much of anything regardless. It's a bit crowded, but we're managing alright.

I look to Reika, who activates two seals—one to lock the door, the other ensure our privacy—before coming over to sit beside me. "Kasamatsu is going to make a power play. He'll try to sneak in weapons, or he'll try to steal ours and use them against us. He thinks his superior numbers will be all he needs."

"He's seen Hoshie transform," Miwako argues. "He'll argue to bring in his strongest, or he'll refuse to enter."

"That's possible," daddy halfway agrees. "His target is likely Aya herself." I snort, amused.

"That's a suicide mission." I don't care who says it, it's true. Everyone has something to say about that—from 'over my dead body' to 'this should be fun' and a whole lot in between.

"It doesn't matter," I say, trying to steer this into more productive waters. "What matters is how we're going to handle it. So here's what I suggest." Everyone settles down. "We're breaking this down into three phases." I grin, looking forward the mindfuck I'm going to mete out one excruciatingly casual day at a time.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I twirl. I snap my fans open then closed again. Though I'm not graceful, not yet, I find the dance Mi's been teaching me so relaxing. I know, in theory, that it's a kata, that I can use this as a martial style and can snap blades and necks when I've mastered it. I'm too busy enjoying the gentle breeze, the feel of the grass below my feet, the dancing wolves around me—Mi demanded that our little wolves' wives and daughters join me and dance with me, along with our ladies, of course.

So naturally, with Yasu out here dancing with us, Hatake would never be anywhere but here. For some reason, Mika is here as well, as are all the younger kunoichis. The others have all been 'dropping by' to watch us dance

More importantly, Mi decided she would only teach us down by the koi pond, and that we should all wear our prettiest kimono and come be barefoot. So even though Kasamatsu is bringing in his army and setting up camp in our front yard, we're here having the time of our lives and our plans don't veer into any waters but enjoyment.

Dancing lessons after breakfast—given by Mi, who's quite content with having nothing to do but watch us. Then mom gets to drag me into the kitchen to continue my cooking lessons—meaning I'm helping with lunch, and will be surrounded by my clan once again. Music lessons in the afternoon—mom's in charge of that too, so I know I'm not going to be allowed to do anything but learn to play my flute. I don't doubt everyone of the clan will be present and will learn to play something right alongside me.

Then comes a mid-afternoon game of shogi—which mom insists on. I'll be allowed to read through the rulebook before I'm pitted against Shikamaru. If we finish up early, Shika and I can cloud watch until dinner—not complaining about that!

And after dinner? That's when I'm allowed to 'inspect' the people Kasamatsu brought. Daddy insists that I should pace myself, seeing as Tetsuhiko needs a week to investigate something now that Kasamatsu is cut off from the world.

It is interesting to note, I'm six half hour training sessions scattered throughout the day and mom's in charge of each of them. Miwako will be training the clan for me, or so I'm told.

So here I am, with nothing worth worrying about, dancing to my heart's content, and Mi's drinking in my every move.

Life is good.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"No!" I shake my head violently, **refusing** to go there.

"It's not a big deal, Aya."

The hell it isn't! She wants me to light the burner!

I glare at the traitorous little shit in my hand—a box of matches—before giving mom a teary pout. "I'm supposed to be enjoying my vacation, you know!"

"And how much more do you think you'll enjoy it when Hitomi-chan compliments your cooking?"

"True," I concede, turning to Yasu-nee to—

"No."

"Mo~oooom!"

"No."

"But you—"

"You're not asking Yasu-chan to light it for you."

"But, mo~oooooooom!"

"No."

I groan, rolling my eyes up to the heavens. When my hand grips the stupid little box again, I heave a sigh with suddenly slumped shoulders.

"You do realise that your secondary element is Fire?"

 _Sigh_. "Don't remind me." It's depressing enough as is, you know.

With great tribulation, I push the box open and take out a… _shiver_ … a match. I put the combustible red head against the—

"Are you sure I can't just—"

"Light the match."

"But—"

"I'm not changing my mind."

"Meanie!" She smiles as serene as a landscape covered in snow, completely unaffected.

"I'm teaching you my chocolate lava cake recipe. Do you really want to miss out on that?"

 _Gro~oooooan_. _Sigh._ "Fi~iiine."

I put the head against the box again.

The burn on my arm aches something fierce, and suddenly I find myself back in that ratty kitchenette in the Red Light District. There's a pot on the stove filled with miso soup, some of which spilled onto my arm as I hefted the damn thing over. I dried my arm off with a towel, of course, but the sticky oily feeling didn't go away.

 _Shiver_. I don't know how it happened exactly. A spark from the match must have landed on my arm and ignited the oil, or something. All I remember was the scent of burning flesh and oil and a searing pain that had me in tears for hours. To be fair, I cried myself to sleep most nights back then, so being in tears was nothing new.

Focusing on the match again, I realise it moved and put it against the box again. I fucking hate this.

Mom comes up behind me, grabbing my hands and striking the match. I shrink back and screw my eyes shut, feeling the heat flare up. "There, see?" I crack an eye open, seeing the flame WAY too close to my fingers. "If you're careful, you won't hurt yourself, sweetie."

Together, we move the box onto the counter, and use the fire in my hand to light the burner. I flinch as it huffs to life.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Stupid fire," I grouse, sucking a spoonful of chocolate left over from our baking expedition. I swirl the spoon around the bowl, picking up even more and shove that into my mouth, still muttering and complaining about it all.

We didn't just light the one burner. Oh no. That would be too simple. Because I'm cooking for Mi and myself, I had to light one for the rice, one for the sauce, one for the meat, another for the soup, another for the veggies I wanted to steam, and I still had to light the fucking OVEN! And if I tried to use the same burner twice? She'd turn it the hell off!

Another spoon lathered in chocolate sauce enters my mouth as I mutely bemoan mom's sudden interest in making me play with fire.

"Come on, sweetie. Don't you want Hitomi to eat while the food's hot?" _Sigh_.

"Slave driver."

Still, I _am_ looking forward to seeing Mi's reaction. So much so, that I put the… I take one last spoonful of chocolate and set the chocolate aside, for now.

I fish out the dishes I'll need and start scooping our meal out for us, quickly bringing it all to the table where Mi and I are to sit. She's already seated, her eyes smiling as I fill her bowl with soup to start.

"Why do we have our own serving bowls?" Mi asks, seeming cautiously optimistic.

"I cooked for us," I admit, blushing up a storm as the others bring in dish after dish of everyone else's lunch. "Mom even made me light the burner."

"You don't say." I blush some more, setting the soup down in front of her and scooping up some for me as well. It takes almost no time at all before everyone has soup poured for them, and we chorus 'itatakimasu!' before digging in.

I swat Mi's hand away from the still covered dessert. "No peaking." I would have preferred to leave it in the oven to keep it warm, but this way I can tease her curiosity—and not worry about someone trying to poison it.

We work through our meal, with me spying her reaction as she tries everything I made. It's nothing special, really. Miso soup to open her appetite. Stirfry beef with noodles, sticky white rice, and a salad with lettuce and spinach and cherry tomatoes. And two servings of lava cake for dessert. Honestly, we'd order twice as much in a restaurant.

What our lunch lacks in variety, though, I made up for in volume. Even as I scoop up Mi's third bowl of rice, and her fourth helping of stirfry, we still have more than enough to spare.

"Gods, that was good!" she manages, patting her tummy as the last of the bowls are emptied. I blush, sighing in relief at long last even as the butterflies in my tummy go nuts.

I did it.

I actually did it.

I cooked for her.

Everything.

From start to finish.

I made a meal she loved.

"There's still dessert," I remind her, snuggling up to her. "Think you can manage?"

"If it's half as good as the food?" She reaches for the metal cover, pulling up and quickly slamming it back down. "You… you baked."

"I baked," I agree.

"You… you lit the oven?"

"I lit the oven." I nod, sidling a little closer to her and letting her gorgeous warmth fill me up.

She lifts the cover again, setting it down nearby. "Chocolate cake."

"Lava cake," I correct. "Cut it open."

"Why are you crying?" I'm crying? I dab at my cheeks, my fingertips suddenly moist. I'm crying.

Before I can come up with something, Mi manoeuvres me into her lap and starts cutting our lava cakes—they're small ones, each a serving so I can cut them open and watch the chocolate sauce ooze out onto the plate.

Instead of witnessing that, I see Mi as she tries her first bite. How her eyes close and her face glows at the yummy treat. The treat I made for her. The meal I worked so hard on. And she loves every bite.

I'd light a thousand burners if it means seeing that look again.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Together we make short work of the dishes, bringing them all into the kitchen. I wash Mi's and mine, glowing the whole time.

"She enjoyed it?" mom asks, handing me the soup pot. I nod, noising happily as I glow. "Enough to tempt you to cook tomorrow?"

Honestly, I wouldn't mind cooking every meal for the next lifetime if it means making her happy. "Nn," I noise, a goofy happy smile still on my lips.

"Good. Come on, you still have your music lesson." I dry the pot and set it back in the cupboard, following her out of the kitchen. If I didn't know any better, I'd think mom's glowing a brightly as I am.

I follow her out into the backyard, finding everyone taking a seat. I was right, mom's dragging us all into this to keep us together. Still, seeing Hoshie and Sakiko helping hand out instruments is sweet enough to keep me from complaining. I've never thought of myself as musically inclined—singing to myself doesn't count, and singing while drunk even less so.

When Reika hands me the flute Mi bought me that day, it hits me.

This is Mi's doing. All of it. Learning to cook, learning to dance, learning medical jutsu, being socialised. It's all her.

I beam, taking the white wooden flute from her. I sniff, wondering where Mi is—she's in the dojo with Miwako and the little wolves.

"Sweet!" Sakiko grabs my attention. She has a flute like mine, if fuchsia, and she's obviously happy about that. "Aya-nee~eee! Look it! I got a flute like yours!"

"Me, too!" Hoshie gushes, hugging her cyan flute.

Instead of waiting on me, they dash off to the bag mom plops down and they start bugging her about this or that. "Milady?" I turn, already smiling for Reika. She hands me the scroll Hinata gave me, the day I left Konoha.

You've been busy. Haven't you, Mi?

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I swim in the cacophony of sound around me. None of us are any good, but I find myself lost in the clumsy notes I make all the same. As crazy as it sounds, the slipshod low note flopping out of the flute, it soothes me, kisses my ears in a way only Mi was able to.

Every time I move one of my fingers, the note changes and sends my heart aflutter. I try to remember what note I'm playing, but my brain just isn't up to the task. I'm too absorbed in this, too filled with wonder and awe and…

I'm making music.

It's nothing compared to the geishas I've heard playing this very instrument a thousand times before, of course. But I'm the one doing it. I'm the one playing the notes, the one pouring my music into the world.

"Aya?" I look to mom, refusing to put my flute down just yet. "Shika's waiting for you."

I do my best not to sigh as I lower my flute. Reika smiles, lowering her shamisen and sealing both instruments into her scroll for safekeeping. I pull up my mask, forcing myself to my feet as the pair of us walk over to Shika. Grass shifts again, tugging my attention to Keiko and Misato—apparently I'm travelling under full guard.

I turn to Shika-nii, finding a warm smile in his eyes, even as he looks lazy as ever. He turns to the manor, no doubt expecting me to follow him. I wanna go back to my shinobue!

"If it helps," Shika-nii drawls. "Hitomi said she cancelled your appointment later. Something about it being date night." If she spoils me any more today, I'm not going to be able to deny her anything.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I stare. Of all the places Mi is likely to take me, this ranks second lowest—losing top rank only to clothes shopping.

I blink, wondering if this isn't a genjutsu or something. But the display window doesn't change. I see jewellery. Watches, earrings, chains, bracelets, hairpins, hair decorations, and even things I can't figure out what they are.

Yet, Mi offers her elbow, escorting me into the store. Not only does she bring me into an upscale jewellery store, but she brings me to the section with piecing sets—she has yet to pierce her ears. I find myself wondering if I didn't die, and today is the afterlife's way of making up for my shitty life.

"I was thinking we should get a matching set," Mi says, tugging me back to the here and now. "But I can't decide which set to pierce with." There are dozens of cute little earrings to choose from, from simple studs in an array of colours, to more decorative sets—there are ladybugs, music notes, even stylized flames and leaves.

"They're adorable," I say, unable to choose just one.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

By the time we make it to the restaurant, I'm walking on clouds. We got her ears pierced, picked out a matching jade-studded earrings, got me an addition three pairs of earrings I liked, and two adorable decorative combs for future date nights. That we were also looking at engagement rings…

I blush, remembering this one pair that stood out. A simple pair, to be sure, with their broad flat faces and no embellishment, but the price included a proper engagement ring as well, with a fourteen karat diamond.

Even as Mi escorts me to our seat, letting our waiter lead the way, I keep finding myself wondering if she'd want to wear a wedding kimono, or if she'd try to argue about how she should wear her men's suit like tonight.

Her new earrings glitter in the dim lighting, her little smirk telling me she enjoys the effect she has on me—as if she understands just how profound this day has been for me. I hug her elbow a little tighter, unable and unwilling to see anything but her just now.

We're led to a cosy table, well away from the other patrons and hidden away in an alcove almost. It's a round table, with the seating cushioned and contoured to the table—just like our table in Saimogo.

She lets me sit first, so I shimmy to the far end. By the time I'm comfortable, Mi's already by my side, her arm wrapped around my shoulder possessively. I lay my left hand on her thigh, snuggling up close to her as I breathe her in. She smells of the mountain flowers body spray she set out for me, making it hard to tell where my body ends and hers begins—not that our scents weren't already so intertwined that I can't tell us apart.

Something is said, and suddenly a menu is placed in front of us—a single menu, seeing that two would be pointless. "A bottle of sake to start to whet our appetite, please." The way her lips move, the joy in her eyes as she pretends she isn't keeping an eye on me—she's mesmerising. "No. Two saucers. Please choose something mild, perhaps sweet and chilled? Winter isn't far off, so we might as well enjoy it now." That last part is said for me, I'm sure. But I can almost swear it's only the two of us here, so I might be wrong.

I capture her chin, tugging her attention to me as I lean in for a kiss. Her lips welcome me with her addictive warmth—and she's wearing lip gloss, kiwi-flavoured. She pulls back, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "He was asking if you're sure you don't want tea."

I shake my head, no, kissing her again. I'm already drunk on you, Mi. Sake won't hurt or help that. "Just the sake, then," she says. I nod—if she was speaking to me or what's-his-face isn't something I can claim to know.

More movement. I turn, wondering at the scent of worn leather and old paper. Ah, the menu. Mi's far more interesting, though, so I lean into her embrace. "Hmm. What are you in the mood for?"

"I'm up for anything," I say, wondering if it would be awkward to tell her that she's all I want—it strikes me as too corny. "Thank you."

"Hmm?"

"For today. I know you orchestrated it." I lay my head against her chest. "How'd you even know I'd like the flute?"

"Hmm. To be honest, I dunno. Just thought it suited you." I make an amused noise—she does that a lot these days, just knowing what I need. "I feel like a steak. With dumplings and rice. Some conch soup to start. And maybe some fried squid with the green tea sauce."

It sounds yummy.

"I figure you'd want the same?"

"I just want you. But I'd settle for the food."

A sound, like a throat being cleared. It would seem we aren't alone. Pity. "Perfect timing." Mi orders everything she just mentioned, then doubles it, and makes sure to point it we want both sides of rice and dumplings with the already mentioned two orders of rice and dumplings. And four riceballs to go with it, just to be sure.

"What about dessert?" I ask, wondering what they have.

"I can come back later for that?" the waiter squeaks. Poor guy doesn't know what to make of us, at all. He must be used to women who order a salad and that's it.

"That's fine. Do you have tsukune?" I ask. I've been craving breaded chicken a lot lately, not sure why.

"You've been eating that so much lately. Wouldn't you like to try their cod instead?"

"Alright. Three?"

"Sounds about right. Yes, three orders of cod."

"With the sides?" He _really_ doesn't know what to make of us.

"Naturally. And something to snack on while we wait."

"And I'm the one who should have been born an Akimichi?"

"What can I say? You stimulate my appetite."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it," she admits, pouring us another saucer of sake. This bottle's a lot stronger than the first, but we have plenty in our tummies now. "Can you blame me? You've given me everything I could ever want."

"Not everything," I argue, tugging her hand and laying it low on my tummy, where my womb is.

"In time, love," she says, kissing my temple. "But other than that? You give me everything." I take the offered saucer, clinking it against hers and sipping it empty. "What about you? Have you thought about what it'll be like?"

"A little," I say, blushing furiously. I mean, I'm a Namiki. I have a strong mate. We're financially secure. Of course the thought of starting a family bubbles up. "I'm more thinking about the wedding, to be honest."

Feeling drains from my face. Why the hell did I just say that?!

"Me, too." I sigh in relief. Then reality hits me like a boulder between the eyes. I turn to her, my eyes wide and teary. "You're acting like we didn't just talk about this. Like we weren't looking at engagement rings earlier."

I giggle, covering my mouth with my hand.

"And that's ignoring that meeting with Hiashi. You know, where you were already hammering out the finer points of our marriage contract. Including the right for me to get pregnant as often as I want, without the Hyuugas having any claim to any child or any descendant thereof."

"Hey. If I can get pregnant as often as I want, why can't you?"

"True." She pours me another saucer. "Hey, have you noticed that Hoshie has stars in her eyes every time we kiss?"

"Does she?" I wonder about that. "I'm pretty used to her having stars every time she looks at me. It's hard to tell."

"She adores you." And the feeling's mutual. "But yes, she glows a little brighter when we kiss. I think she might be into girls."

"Meh. She'll figure it out in time. As long as she finds someone that'll treat her right, I won't care." I take the saucer, clinking it against hers again.

"And what about Kenshin? He was quite interested in me putting on my lip gloss."

"It smells and tastes like candy, of course he's interested," I argue. She gives me a peck, just so I can confirm it again. "Come on, love. They'll let us know which team they bat for."

She chuckles, sipping her saucer empty. "I'm still feeling hungry. When are they coming with dessert?"

I look at the impressive stack of empty dishes we ravaged. A burp jumps up before I can suppress it. "Oh gods. I'm sorry, that came out of nowhere." Mi laughs, pouring me another saucer. She obviously doesn't care. Suddenly I feel peckish. "And yeah, where is dessert?"

"Dunno. Hey, did Yoshino-san give you the good news?"

"Hmm?"

"She and Shikaku-san agreed to taking the house next to us."

"No way!"

"Uh huh. I all but begged for them to move in, but they seem convinced they don't want to live with honeymooners."

"We have a soundproof seal on the door."

"I think it's that she isn't ready to walk in on us in the bathroom again." I groan. The one time we do it in the bathroom, and mom has to walk in. "So anyway. Shikaku-san said Jiraiya called. He sounded excited."

"We'd better tell the ladies that he isn't in any position to demand they sleep with him."

"Ouch."

"Smell him when he arrives. He always smells like he came from a pleasure house."

I smell our waiter coming again. Empty handed, other than what smells like paper. That better not be the bill!

"Forgive me, My Lady. Dessert is taking far too long. If you like, there is a chocolatier down the street and on the left. Ordering there might be far more expedient."

"That's fair," I agree, grateful for the forthcoming announcement. "Please, give my compliments to the chef. Everything was delicious."

"I will do so, My Lady. Your bill. I've subtracted your desserts and the last order of dumplings will be complimentary for the inconvenience."

"You're too kind!" Mi says a little louder than she intended, given her wince. "Wow. Still not used to the heightened hearing."

"You're lucky I did that after you pierced your ears," I tease. Mi pays, shimmying out of the seat. When I'm back beside her, I make sure to grab her hand—I tend to get a little lightheaded after a few bottles, and that last one had some kick to it.

"My good man," Mi begins, bowing low, even as she's stabilizing me. "You have been a wonderful waiter. We'll be sure to come back again."

"You are too kind, My Lady. I hope you'll have me as your waiter again some time."

"Count on it. And the suggestion… that hollandaise sauce was yummy."

"My Lady has a taste for fine cuisine. Anyone would have done the same."

Someone comes over. An elegantly dressed gentleman. "My Lady Namiki! To have one such as you in our establishment!"

"I'm sorry. I don't believe we've met," Mi says, wrapping an arm around me again.

"Ah, my sincerest apologies. And to send such an inexperienced waiter, to boot!" Our waiter baulks, not doubt embarrassed to have his nose rubbed in it in front of us.

"I disagree, good sir. He was a fine host, and his suggestion for the chocolatier is just what we were looking for. If he isn't one of your best, then your establishment truly sets the bar at perfection."

"Agreed. Next time we come, I would have him as our waiter again. And my compliments on the choices of sake. We'll have to come back for a drink sometime."

"Nn. He helped me make this a perfect first date for my beloved."

"A first date you say?! Ho oh! Now that is fortuitous. Please, if you ever have another occasion to celebrate." He offers Mi his card. Not of the restaurant, but his personal card. "Do not hesitate to call me. We have private booths upstairs for select clientele, but it must be reserved weeks in advance, you understand."

"Perfectly. Thank you, mister…?"

"Kataoka Ogai. I'm the manager of this fine establishment." He bows low. "I cannot tell you how delighted I am to hear you've enjoyed your evening."

"Then let me assure you that tonight was the crowning moment. And given how Mi's been doting on me all day, that says something," I say, tugging Mi in for a peck. I love how she doesn't even hesitate, but I most enjoy how she deepens the kiss and almost makes me go weak in the knees. I pull back, but neither of us looks away. "We are forever grateful." I blush, unsure if I say that for the manager, or for Mi.

There's another few gracious exchanges—all the political crap Yasu-nee warned me to expect—before our final bow and we start heading out. "Boy, I don't know how you pulled it off. But I think you just earned yourself a raise." I can still hear them just fine, even through the buzzing in my ears.

"I don't understand, boss. Who are they?"

"Lady Namiki Aya and her lover Lady Namiki Hitomi. They're personal friends of the Fire Daimyo himself. Not the kind of people you want to upset. Ever."

"Really? They seemed so down to earth."

"And they had their first date here. With a little luck, they'll want the wedding here. And maybe their anniversaries." I like the waiter more than the manager.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I sigh. Laying down on the grass, just gazing up at the clouds. I lost another game against Shika-nii, and I couldn't care less. Not even a little. I'm too busy glowing to care.

Between Mi and mom and daddy and Shika-nii and Hatake and… Okay, so I'm just too busy to care, but I'm glowing while doing it!

"Drumstick," I say, pointing to one of the clouds. Shika-nii noises, highly amused.

"I dunno. Looks more like a dumpling," Chouji points out, and gets ignored.

"Shrimp." I point to another cloud. Shika-nii nudges me with his elbow. I look to him, but he doesn't say what he wants. His hands are behind his head, and his arm looks more comfortable than the grass. It couldn't hurt.

I scoot over, laying my head on his arm. Much better.

"Ramen bowl." I point.

"You two need another hobby," Ino complains.

"Looks more like ice cream. With whipped cream." No, it doesn't.

"Popcorn chicken." I point, snuggling a little closer to Shika-nii. He snorts, obviously agreeing with me. His stomach growls, also agreeing with me.

"I dunno. Kinda reminds me of mom's eggrolls."

"Shika-nii's stomach agrees with me. You lose by default." Ino giggles, covering her mouth and closing her eyes. "Peking duck. With onions and garlic."

"Uh uh. Pork roll before you cut the string."

"Ooh. Caesar salad."

"I'm getting hungry just listening to you two," Ino complains again. Well, you _do_ need to eat more.

"Tsukune."

"Huh? Where?"

"I smell it. Mom's baking."

"They're usually fried."

"So are popcorn chicken. Mom doesn't care." Shika-nii laughs, his shoulders shivering. "I wonder what Mi is up to."

"How'd you go from breaded chicken to Hitomi?" Ino asks, a smile obvious in her tone. I blush, biting my lip to keep me from answering the question. "You're in love with her."

"Fried squid." I point, avoiding that topic entirely.

"You're still afraid?" she asks. I sidle closer to Shika-nii, using the movement to mask me wiping my tears on his shirt. "I don't think she has it in her to hurt you. She's crazy about you."

"Can _dy_ apple." I point, ignoring the slight quiver in my voice.

"This is about your parents." Breath stops. Hand freezes mid-air. "It doesn't stop hurting, you know. Not until you let it go."

"Ino. Drop it," Shika-nii gets on her case.

"She needs to hear this and you kn—"

I turn, laying my head on Shika-nii's chest and grabbing a fistful of his shirt. His hand is on my back, between my shoulder blades.

"They're cut marks," Ino says, almost conversationally. "That's why I don't show my forearms. I used to cut myself, and they're covered with obvious scars."

Fascinating.

"Mom went missing during her last mission. No sign of her. No ransom. Nothing. Just gone. It messed me up. Not having a funeral, never knowing if she was alive or dead. Fearing her being kept alive through it all even more than her being killed."

…

"It got me so angry all the time. I stopped hanging out with these two idiots. I stopped talking. I couldn't taste food. It just felt… it felt like I was already dead, but my heart just wouldn't stop beating."

…

"So I tried stopping it."

…

"I was already immune to most poisons. And I'd trained so hard that restarting my heart was automatic. So I needed another route."

…

"Then one day, she came home. Sort of, at least. She was a wreck. And it just messed me up even more."

…

"She'd sit on the porch, staring at nothing all day."

…

"She wouldn't talk. But I wasn't talking either."

…

"I was supposed to be happy. That she was home, that she was alright."

You're not fucking helping.

"But she wasn't alright. She wasn't exactly home either. It confus—"

I get up, walking away. I just had the two most amazing days of my fucking life. And she figures I want to hear about her trauma. _Bravo_ , Blondie. Bra- _fucking_ -vo.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Name," I drone. The fourteenth 'plausible acquisition' stands before me for the evening. Female. Ten years, give or take.

"Oishi Asako," the girl answers, sounding more like a robot than anything.

"Your issue with me?"

"My Lady?" Oishi sounds confused. Well and truly confused.

"Answer the question."

The girl narrows her ebony eyes, trying to make sense of that, and failing. "Forgive me, My Lady. I have no issue with you, nor do I intend to make one."

"It's your being shown off as cattle, and your price being discussed in hearing distance," I drone, trying not to sound disgusted. She nods, all emotion draining from her face—she's fighting so hard not to cry that she refuses to feel anything at all. I shoo her towards the examination table, she climbs up onto it, sitting down. "Lie down."

She turns and lies down. With no reason not to, I cast the Mystic Palm jutsu, starting my scan at her feet and working my way up. She doesn't react in the least as I scan her, even when my hands are near her crotch. Either she doesn't think she's in any danger, or she's too far gone in her happy place to care what I do to her.

Still, she's in excellent health. Hymen's intact, so I have no reason to torture someone. And as far as I can tell, she's never been struck outside of training. There are calluses on her palms from training with a blade, though I assume a wooden one.

I nod, walking over to the desk where I have a blank file ready to fill in. I stipulate that I do not suspect molestation or any kind of physical abuse, and that she's a swordsman in training—right before mutely cursing that 'swordswoman' isn't a fucking word…

I scratch 'swordsman' with my pen, and write 'swordswoman' instead. Fuck it. New words are created every day. Today's new word: swordswoman. Definition: not someone to fuck with, if you enjoy having your dick in one piece.

The definition might need some work. I'll ask Shika-nii next time we're having a shogi match.

There's a knock at the door. "We're naked," I drone, annoyed that I smell Kasamatsu too nearby for this to be the next inspection.

The door opens, the little wolf chuckling as he enters. "My Lady. Lord Kasamatsu wishes to inquire how the inspection is progressing."

"Oishi, you can get up," I say, motioning for the little wolf to come in—he'll know that means to bring the shithead in, too. Kasamatsu enters, letting little wolf close the door behind him. "She's in excellent health, as are the others I've inspected."

"You don't sound pleased, My Lady. Is there something wrong with the merchandise?" he asks, faux concerned impossible to miss.

"I suspect their current owner is the only issue," I drawl, closing the folder to hide my findings from his curious eyes. "Is there some reason you are invading my office?"

"Merely curious, My Lady," he claims. I don't believe him. At all. I nod, turning to Reika. She fishes out a katana and wakizashi, offering them to me. I set both on the desk, their handles pointing to Oishi, in case she feels the need to slice this asshole a new hole to breathe from.

"Oishi. You've been training. Is it safe to say these are weapons you can handle?"

"It is, My Lady. Though not the only ones. I've also trained with the naginata, tessen, jitte, and bow." I nod, figuring as much. The others all said the same. Boys and girls alike, trained in every weapon their parents know to teach—at least, I assume the jitte is a weapon.

"Very well. Pick one, and show me a kata," I demand. She bows low, walking up and taking the katana. She has no sash—she trains, but isn't considered 'an adult' yet. So she starts almost dancing about, push and pull cutting her imaginary opponent. She's elegant in her motions, swift and clean. More so than the thirteen others, and they were all older than her.

"Good," I say. She carefully sheathes the blade, bowing low before she places it back the exact same way she found it. "You show promise, though you have a long way to go." She nods, agreeing fully. "These blades. They're yours. Training starts in the morning at five."

She looks like she wants to cry, and not from joy.

"Little wolf. Show her to her futon."

"Yes, My Lady." I turn to look him in the eyes. He looks curious at first, until understanding dawns on him. "I will see to it." I nod, knowing he'll ask his wife to keep an eye on Oishi. She's too emotional, her heart rebels with all its might. We need to know who her heart beats for, if we're to help her.

Just as the pair are leaving, another enters without knocking. A man. He smells of Oishi's father, yet he doesn't look at her as she walks away from him. "I'm buying that one," I say, seeing anger in his eyes—he blinks and the emotion is gone. I thought so. Kasamatsu keeps them firmly under his heel. A proper push, and they'll rebel against him. "She is skilled, but poorly trained and rather emotional."

"She's but a girl," Kasamatsu brushes her off with a shrug, and me right along with her.

"Perhaps. I can't help but wonder what her father would do, should he find out you sell his child," I muse, resting my chin on the backs of my folded hands. Again the anger boils up in the samurai, though his lord seems not to notice. It lasts a second longer than before. He loves his daughter.

"Please do not concern yourself with trivial matters." The samurai bites his lip to still his tongue. He twitched with the word 'trivial' as well, as if the anguish he suffers means nothing to Kasamatsu.

One last push before I let him wander off. "Very well. Come, lay down, I need to inspect you." I shoo the samurai towards the examination table, just as his daughter before him.

"This one isn't for sale, My Lady. He's my personal guard." I nod, having suspected as much. The fire in that one burns brighter now, even as he blinks it away I see the potential inferno on a sizzle. He understands that he would be separated from his baby at his lord's whim.

"Pity. Shoo, then. I have more to inspect. Little wolf, bring in the next one." I pull out another blank file. Kasamatsu strolls out without a care, but the samurai lingers for a moment. "If it helps, I will guard her as any wolf guards their pack."

He peers down at me, his emotions almost consuming him now. His anger roils in him, warring with what he sees as his loyalty to his lord. Being loyal to Kasamatsu would mean disloyalty to Asako—a scene he would no doubt go through again and again if he remains loyal to his lord.

He walks out of my office without a word, his shoulders tense.

A pity Kasamatsu misses the signs—both of his guards' waning loyalty, and my plucking all the strings to encourage it further.

"Tsuji."

"On it." The words come out of an empty corner, and suddenly his scent grows faint.

Two days down. Five to go.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Oishi Asako is brought to me early the next morning, even before drills begin. The two she-wolves with her keep a soothing hand on her, murmuring that she should speak her heart to 'Lady Aya'. I barely walk out of my bedroom door, and already things need my attention. Still, they wouldn't bring her to me for no reason.

"Love?" I turn to Mi, who's just closing our door behind her, wondering what's going on. "This is Oishi Asako. Daughter to Oishi Yoshitaki and Kasumi. Elder sister to Shoutetsu, he's four." She's been monitoring the group, selecting those worth further investigation—she told me as much.

"It's your little brother, isn't it," I ask, turning to the mournful, dark eyes of Asako. She nods, fighting not to cry. "And I take it Kasamatsu is unwilling to part with a potential future guard…"

"Don't worry, love. I'll handle it," Mi says, kissing my brow. "Karumi?"

"We'll tell the others, Lady Hitomi. Be safe."

"Love?"

"I'm going to be pissed if you get hurt. Even a scratch."

"We'll be back before breakfast." We share a brief kiss, and she turns to head out. No doubt to relieve Zeitou from his shift, or simply to seal away everyone in Kasamatsu's compound.

"Do you need my scrolls?"

"Asami already made me my own."

"Do you need my scrolls?" If he only has eighty souls left in his compound, and my scrolls can hold sixty…

She smiles, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Alright."

I unseal all four Prisoners' scrolls and offer them to her. She seals them away, giving me one last kiss before she body flickers out of sight.

"Come little wolves. Morning drills await."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Asako's eyes smile, even as her father's fume. She's at peace amidst his anguish. She sits among our pack, bearing our stripes, her katana careful set beside her as she sits to the low table among us and accepts her morning meal from Kana. He stands behind his lord, unarmed, and unable to eat in his presence.

You have patience, Yoshitaki. Let's see how long that will last.

Another enters our sitting room bearing another dish. Kasumi, Yoshitaki's wife. She takes a seat beside her daughter, grabbing chopsticks and filling her daughter's plate, as if to say she should eat more.

"You are quite common with your slaves," Kasamatsu intones. I assume he's trying to berate me.

"Am I?" I drone, uninterested. I scoop up another bowl of rice for Mi, while she's busy tearing a piece of fish and offering it to me. I bite it off her chopsticks, setting the bowl beside her plate. "Jiraiya. I would appreciate it if you would stop gawking."

The silver-haired pervert grins, blushing as he scoops up another helping of salad.

"Eat up, little wolves," I say, smiling at the pups' big eyes at how much their mothers are allowed to scoop up for them. "No wolf goes hungry." I look to Asako, who smiles brighter and finally stops sneaking the food in her plate into another wolf's. She was no doubt used to either women or children eating less than men—probably both, and doubling up on girls for having the misfortune of being female _and_ children.

"Aya. I'll need you and Hitomi after we eat." I nod, grabbing the tongs and scooping up some more salad for Mi and myself.

"I trust you slept well?" I change the subject, knowing he'll know I don't trust that little shit.

"It would have been nicer with a warm body in my bed."

"If I hear any member of my clan complaining about you, I will castrate you myself." Every she-wolf laughs, but the he-wolves even more so.

"Hey now! I never make a move on an unwilling lady." No, you just double the price. Not rape, but not exactly a willing participant either—desperation isn't consent, last I checked.

I grab the empty rice bowl beside me, filling it. "You need to eat, Reika." She opens her mouth to protest. "Then have seconds." She pauses, raising a finger. "Are you still hungry?" She narrows her eyes and nods. "Then have more. You need the calories."

She sits beside me once again, accepting the bowl. She grabs her chopstick and starts filling her plate again.

"I couldn't agree more!" uncle Chouza belts out, laughing. He and auntie Remi share an approving look, smiling brightly.

"You could stand to eat more as well, Ino-chan. You too, Sakura-chan," auntie Remi gets on their case. The girls share a look. Suddenly their plates are three times as full as when they started.

"Eat. Or you'll be running drills all day with me," Miwako threatens. I wince, knowing this won't end well. Miwako is a lot of things, but when it comes to training, she's ruthless. Oh well. Not my problem.

"That sounds ideal, actually," uncle Inoichi says. "If they eat or don't, they stand to learn a lot from you."

"But we're supposed to be guarding Aya-chan," Ino argues, acting as if offered a winning argument.

"Then I'll stay with her while you train," uncle counters. "Miwako, please train my daughter well."

"Count on it. Satsuma, I'll leave the pups with you. And Aya, I'll need a proper weapon for blondie here."

"After breakfast," I drone, grabbing Reika by the shoulder and nudging her to sit back down. "Little wolves. You'll be joining them as well."

"Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi, Tsuji, Atsu. You five are with me as well," Miwako demands. The five look at me, worried.

"It's alright. I'll have a new little wolf guarding me," I say, my eyes smiling to show I'm okay with it—they frown, their eyes darting nervously between Miwako and me. "Still not convinced, huh. Well, Zabuza. Will you guard me for the morning?"

"I can arrange the sake," Mika offers, smiling for some reason. I shrug, figuring it isn't my problem.

"Sake and dancing ladies," Zabuza says, thinking about that. "I've had worse days."

"Hey, dad? Can I join them? It sounds like more fun that the drills Mika-sensei's been putting us through," Ao-chan almost begs.

"Only if you wear a kimono," Zabuza reminds him. He beams, not minding in the least. "And Minori would have to join as well. Haruki can be Mika's assistant for the day."

 _Sigh_. "We're still eating breakfast," I complain, refilling my rice bowl and pouring Mi and me some more tea. Reika's cup is empty as well, so she gets a refill while I'm at it.

"Hey, hey, Aya-sama? May I borrow one of your kimonos for dance lessons?" Ao-chan begs me, tears in his eyes and pouting.

"Alright. Take Minori with you. You can help each other get dressed."

"Wait!" Ino whines. "They get cute kimonos and dancing lessons. And I get the drill sergeant?!"

"If you complain again, you'll be with me tomorrow as well," Miwako warns. Ino swallows hard, likely knowing her father would only encourage it.

Ino heaves a sigh, looking almost as if she was just told the stores are all going out of business. "Yes, Miwako-sensei."

"My, my, Lady Namiki. You certainly keep quite the rabble," Kasamatsu bellyaches. I shrug, checking the pups. They've all eaten quite a meal, so I won't complain.

"Mi?" I turn to my love, giving her a meaningful look. Her duties are taken care of for the morning. It's time for those pesky smuggled-in blades to go missing. She nods.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"So what's this about?" I ask the second Jiraiya closes my office door. Instead of answering, he motions for Mi and I to have a seat.

We sit on the edge of my desk, motioning for him to get on with it.

He casts a privacy jutsu, his face grim. "I have the counter seal. But there's a catch."

"We're not letting you watch." He narrows his eyes, annoyed.

"No. I mean the counter seal burns the seal off, killing the skin around it. It'll likely leave first degree burns."

I look to Mi. "A price I gladly pay," she says, nodding to me.

"Alright. Give me a minute, let me get my things," I say, motioning for Reika to give me my scroll. I unseal my medical gauze, a disinfectant, and give her an anti-inflammatory pill to swallow while I'm at it. "That'll need twenty minutes to kick in properly. Don't activate the counter seal until it does."

When I have my things set on the desk, I nod to him.

He comes over, unsealing a bottle of red ink number five—I've never worked with it, because it's so volatile. Taking his brush in hand, he nods to Mi, to take off her forehead protector. She hands it to me, her forehead scarred with the green leash I can't wait to never see again.

Jiraiya starts painting markings all around her branding, red ink visually overpowering the lime green.

I sit at Mi's side, ready to shove Jiraiya out of the way the microsecond his work is done to spare my love what pain I can.

I wait.

And I wait.

"Twenty one minutes. Let's begin." He makes the seal of confrontation. The scent of charred flesh explodes, filling me with a helpless sort of dread as I watch her soundlessly writhing beside me.

The second the pain seems to subside, I slip into her lap and cast the Mystic Palm, leeching her pain away and healing the extensive damage as quickly as I can. The boils don't get the chance to form before the combination of the pill and my jutsu soothe every last bit of her.

It's almost a minute later, and I'm staring at immaculate, untarnished forehead skin. I take the little tub and slather on the salve meant to stave off infections, before wrapping the gauze around her to keep the area sterile while her body regains its equilibrium.

Before I can even tie a proper knot, her lips claim mine. We're both in tears.

It's over.

The longest nightmare of her life is finally over.

"Careful," I warn as she starts trailing her kisses down to my neck. "It's going to be tender for a few days. No touching it. At all."

She nods, holding me tight.

"I owe you, Jiraiya," I say, promising myself that I'll pay him back when he needs me.

"Asami knows the counter seal as well. Just in case the brat needs it for his princess."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Lunch finds us in a very different mood. Our she-wolves, including Asako, all glow from spending the morning doing tessen kata. Our pups look really excited for the meal, and Satsuma is busy explaining one pup's mother than her son scraped his knee during one of the drills he had them running—she checks both knees, finding no marking of any kind. Satsuma must have healed it already.

Our shinobi all look like they were trampled by a rampaging herd of deer. Ino's and Haruno's hair weren't spared, but neither seems capable of processing that fact.

But it's the little wolves that went with Miwako that interest me. They look just as roughed up, but at the same time they can't stop glowing. Their pups keep rushing them, hugging them and kissing them over and over, and that just makes them glow brighter.

I look to Mi, finding much the same glow in her eyes—mixed with amusement and vindication.

"Oi. Aya. I'mma need more blades for the afternoon workout," Miwako announces. Every shinobi that spent the morning with her groans. Eimi even keels over—given the shit Mi and I put those five through, I'd say it was a hell of a workout.

"I could go with them?" Reika offers, looking almost hopeful.

"Alright," I agree.

"H… hey, love? What…?" Mi can't seem to figure out what's going on. I give her a heavy-lidded look and a sultry smile, enjoying how blown away she is.

I scoop up her squid okonomiyaki, offering her the squeeze-bottle with green tea sauce. Figuring she'd need more variety for her midday meal, I pinch the salty eggrolls and heap a few into her plate as well, along with the fist-sized riceballs and the dumplings.

She just sits there, frozen by shock. "Mom packed the cookbooks you bought me. One of them had the recipe," I explain, grabbing the bottle of sake and pouring her a saucer. "Eat up or it'll get cold."

Instead, I get the most mind-blowing kiss of my life.

Her arms around my waist, loosening my braid. Her fingers start combing through my hair, grabbing two fistfuls and tugging gently. My head tilts back further, my mouth hanging open in an unvoiced moan of pleasure. I can't tell if it's how needy it is, or how deeply me cooking her favourite meal touches her, or her trying to show me how this is the best day of her life. But the intensity leaves me lightheaded—and more than a little aroused.

"Marry me," she begs. I'm too breathless to answer just yet.

I shake away the cobwebs, taking as deep a breath as I can as I gently push her back—I'll be too tempted for us to continue otherwise. "You don't even know if it's any good." I grab the squeeze-bottle, spritzing the sauce over the mini pancake-thingies, then grab one with my chopsticks and bring it to her mouth.

She doesn't fight me, sucking the offering in like a gift from the gods themselves. Her face relaxes, even as her eyes smile and her lips curl up. Her eyelids grow heavy, closing to block out the world. And she just basks. She isn't disgusted, so I guess I didn't screw up.

Her jaw works up and down. I can only imagine she's letting the taste swish about in her mouth, like the okonomiyaki connoisseur she is.

A gulp.

"Well?" I ask, eagerly anticipating her reply. "Is it good?"

Her eyes open.

She focuses on me.

I start getting nervous.

I added enough cabbage.

I cut the squid into small enough bits.

Did I get the sauce wrong?

Does she like it sweeter? Less sweet?

Is the okonomiyaki too moist for her liking?

Is it too dry?

Gods, woman! Say something!

"Give me a second." She takes her chopsticks and the bottle. She sprinkles on more sauce, and she takes another bite. And another.

And another.

My heart soars higher each time. She'd never eat more if she hated it. The dumplings soon join the palate. And the riceball.

She's quiet the entire time, but her teary eyes speak of ecstasy.

"Sweetie?" mom calls me. I noise, unwilling to look away from Mi. "Your food will get cold."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 31_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Well, I finally got a bit of writing done! Internet is still being a dick, but I'm at least further along that I was last week. R &R darlings!  
_**


	32. Our Pack

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 32 – Our Pack_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"What the heck is a ponytailer?" Ino asks, furious that the idiot behind the counter doesn't know what a scrunchie is. Hinata and I share a look, biting our lip to keep quiet.

"Hey, Ino. I think I found them," Sakura says, pointing a bit further down the same aisle we're in. Ino gives the teenage slack-off a wilting glare as she storms over to us and towards the scrunchies she was hoping to find. Hinata and I share another look, and we giggle—now that Ino's out of hearing distance.

Once we have the bouncy stretchy hair ornaments she so needs, we head over into the makeup aisle. I focus mostly on nail polish, and Hinata keeps suggesting cute colours of lipstick that matches with it. Ino suggests some blush, but I already have and I never wear it anyway.

They have these gorgeous body sprays I decide I like—white plum blossom, lotus, and watermelon.

"Trying to work up Hitomi's appetite for you?" Ao-chan teases, beaming at me all the same. I blush, neither confirming nor denying the claim—though I do wonder if Mi will like it.

Minori and Mika are still debating what will suit Asako by the time we finish, so Hinata and I decide to weigh in.

"She'll be learning Namiki jutsus. So foundation is out of the question," I point out.

"And she's so pretty. I doubt she'll need much makeup anyway," Hinata argues. "I think lipstick and a light blush will be more than enough."

"That's what I was saying!" Minori points out, pouting at her sensei.

"But she should learn how to look her best regardless. Even if she never needs it, it's a skill she should learn all the same," Mika argues, nodding sagely at her own words.

"I agree," Mom weighs in. "But Aya has a point. She'd never wear much makeup, so the lipstick and some lip gloss are as far as she's ever likely to go. Unless she's willing to try eye shadow? Maybe we can get her some body sprays as well?"

"And she can use my nail polish, if she wants to try that?" I offer. "Or would you rather have your own? I don't mind either way."

Asako bursts into tears, her arms around me before I can even register what's going on. She keeps thanking me, keeps saying things I can't make out. I shake my head, confused but cautiously happy for her all the same.

I push her back, smiling my brightest for her. Only to find the rest of our she-wolves beaming every bit as brightly as Asako—as are their daughters. Even the three year old pup clinging to her mommy's leg is giving me her brightest and cheeriest smile.

Each wolf has their own little basket, filled with whatever they desire—they all wisely choose to avoid most makeup, given Miwako and I warned them about how that and perfume will make them sneeze themselves into the grave.

"Come on," I say, drying Asako's tears with my thumbs. "We still have to get you all some clothes. And we really need to pass by the blacksmith before Mi has a nervous breakdown." Everyone giggles, peering at Mi and her agony buddy Ensui complaining at the entrance.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"So I figure, since I don't know much of anything about samurai customs or culture, maybe you can help me out?" I explain, swirling the chicken around in the sauce before plucking it up with some spinach and gobbling it. I cover my mouth before I continue. "I can't exactly expect you to ignore the things you value just because I don't understand them, you know?"

"That makes sense," Asako agrees, covering her mouth as she works her tongue around the dango she ordered. "There is a book I highly recommend. Or, well, two of them. The Five Rings, and Eight Pillars of Bushido. It covers pretty much everything about our philosophy and our customs. Sure, there are some variations between clans and countries, but you get the gist of it."

"Ooh! Mi, you up to going to a bookstore after this?"

"I was just going to suggest that."

"To avoid the looming threat of another clothing store?"

"What? Uh, huh? Hey! We just crawled through six of them!"

"Yeah, but we still need slippers. And Mizumi still needs some baby stuff. And I'm not sure we have a proper winter wardrobe yet."

"So, bookstore, huh," she changes tack quickly. "I know just the place. It's a bit of a walk, but it's the biggest store I know."

"She certainly dodged that bullet," Ao-chan teases, grinning. Everyone gets a laugh out of it.

"Alright. We'll go there after we check out that blacksmith down the road. I want to make sure we're not getting overcharged," I claim, knowing that Hitomi's been saintly patient with us today. Her shoulders sag in relief with a sigh. "Besides. We're going to need some more twin tessens and polearms and tetsubos. And I want to find out what all the hype is about with those jitte."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We arrive home with another impressive haul. Luckily it's all sealed away, and even more luckily it doesn't add any weight. I went a bit crazy in the bookstore, though. But that's okay, since the library here looks so unloved.

I'm tempted to unpack it all, to make our library look like there's a bookworm in this house. But I don't—Kasamatsu is still here, and the less he has to work with, the better. Instead, I head out into the gardens. Auntie Mariko is here, working with Kasumi and a few others, planting thyme and mint and lemongrass and garlic. There are boxes over to one side with potted plants—many of which are flowers, but there are some bigger pots with trees as well.

Instead of getting in their way, I head down to the koi pond, gazing out at the dozens of fish swimming about.

This place… this place was empty when we arrived, just over a week and a half ago. Now, it's home. The kitchen has all the pots and pans, all the baking and serving dishes, all the knives and cutlery we could ever hope for. The library will soon be filled with books of all kinds—and I'm going to read all of them. The bedrooms are all furnished with proper beds and closets and nightstands and reading lamps—the futons all stored in a drawer, just in case. The dojos are decked out, though the armouries are lacking—it's just until Tetsuhiko announces his investigation is complete, seeing as Mi gave him our reports yesterday. The gardens are a bit sparse, given how few flowers bloom in mid-autumn—not that I'd know—but auntie's been planting things that bloom in cold weather.

I look up at Misato, just as she and Keiko are sitting down with me. Reika snuggles up to me as well, shivering slightly from the chill in the air. The rainy season will start any day now, so winter's not far off.

Asako decides to give her mom a hand, already getting orders from auntie.

I sit here, with nothing but packmates around me, each sporting a soft smile.

"Hey, princess," daddy drawls, plopping down beside me. "Mitsuzaka-dono called. He'll be joining us for dinner." I nod, understanding perfectly. Kasamatsu and his guards need to be handled.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We enter the sitting room, finding an irate Kasamatsu with four guards standing in front of him, and a dozen soldiers acting as a wall. Asako storms up to them, demanding an explanation.

"I don't answer to filth," Kasamatsu grinds out, glowering as he turns his attention to me. "And you! You think I don't know what's going on!"

"Hmm? Is something going on?" I drawl.

"I finally get word! Only to hear that I'm being investigated?!"

"You don't say." Kasamatsu all but starts frothing at the mouth.

"GUARDS!"

The soldiers dig out our kitchen knives. Three of the samurais wield rakes. And Kasamatsu is still thinks he stands a chance? This is laughable.

 **SSSSHING!**

Asako dashes ahead, putting herself between me and the supposed army. More and more of Kasamatsu's soldiers and samurais keep pouring into the room, surrounding us—technically. And yet, Asako doesn't waver.

"If you attempt to strike My Lady, you will be answering to the gods!" my little wolf warns, She grabs her katana's grip, lowering her left shoulder. I've seen the stance before, she'll open with a strike as she unsheathes.

"Now, hold on!" I speak up, raising my hands so everyone can see I'm unarmed—technically. Since I just got in from shopping, I'm in my uniform. That means I have my gloves on. That means I have my tetsubo. If anything goes down, I'll be the first to break people. "Before this gets out of hand, let me ask one thing!"

Samurais and guards alike centre their attention on me, their eyes boring into me from all sides.

"Is Kasamatsu a lord you would give your life for?" The room is engulfed in an eerie silence. "Think about it. He brought you here to sell you like cattle. Uncaring for your wives and children. Uncaring if he separates you. Uncaring if you would be better off in my care than under his heel. Caring only for the Ryou you would bring him. Is that the kind of man you are willing to fight for? To live and die for?"

Yoshitaki studies his daughter, standing between him and me. He studies his wife, who unsheathes the tanto Reika gave her. He studies Reika and Hoshie and Sakiko, each brandishing their blades and daring something to piss them off. Even Kana and Satoko and Yasu are at my back, also baring both fangs and tanto at those that would dare draw steel against us. And little Kenshin. He grabs my leg and starts growling up a storm. Those that should be civilians, those that he knows shouldn't be allowed to fight. Yet they are ready to lay down their lives to defend me.

Yet, what they don't realise, what they don't see, is the army of shinobi camouflaged and surrounding them from their vantage point. What they don't realise, is that I would sooner die than allow any of my pack to come to harm.

"So I ask you, lower your arms. Any who do not bare their fangs against me and mine will not come to harm. I swear this on my honour as the Namiki clan head."

No one moves. Pretty words, from the one they have surrounded, they must think. Only, I've long since planted my seeds.

"Father, please," Asako begs. "What kind of samurais do you call yourself, attacking your host with garden tools and kitchen knives?"

The first flinch. The first crack in the dam. Four moves.

"I swear to you. My Lady would honour her word without fail," her conviction shines through. Even the deaf would hear her earnest pleas, even the blind would see how she argues for their lives.

"You would avow yourself to her, daughter?" Yoshitaki asks as solemn as the grave. From what little I know of their culture, dishonour is a fate worse than death. And following a dishonourable lord to their graves is just that—dishonour, on them, on their descendants, and on their ancestors.

"I will." Such simple words, but I am moved by them all the same. "Just as I would defend her to my last breath. Even from you, father."

"No," I say stepping forward. "Stand down, little wolf." Three moves.

"My Lady!"

"No." She looks ready to cry. "That is not how Namikis work. Only a wolf is called on to defend the pack. And you, little wolf, are not there yet. Stand down."

She furrows her brow, but carefully shoves her sheathed blade deeper into her sash.

"Pups. That goes for you, too. Sheathe your blades."

"O'nee-cha~aaaaaan!"

"No. Sheathe your blades. Kana, Satoko, Yasu. Same for you. Kasumi, as well. I am the alpha. It's my job to protect you." Two moves.

They grumble, but they do as I ask.

Samurais and soldiers stare. This isn't the battle-ready look from a moment ago, rather a confused and questioning look. I can understand—a noble ordering her guards not to defend her, right before declaring it's her job to defend them. Just one last pebble, one last ripple, and a tsunami of change can happen.

"Now. Kasamatsu. Have your men stand down. This need not end in violence," I offer peaceably. I motion to the man himself, giving him the rope he needs to hang himself.

"The hells with you! Kill them all!" Kasamatsu orders. Checkmate.

Yoshitaki nods. "You heard Lady Namiki!" he belts out, stepping forward so no one will doubt he's the one who speaks. "Stand down!"

Not missing a beat, the samurais all relax their stances. The soldiers, however, have no idea what to think. There's an uncomfortable murmuring, a chaotic wave washing over them. Do they listen to their lord, or do they listen to Yoshitaki, who no doubt gave them their every order before now.

"Reika?" A katana is handed to me. I need to do something nice for her, she's been as dependable as the sunrise. I meet Yoshitaki's gaze, carefully tossing him the katana one-handed. He catches it just the same. "It's but a throwaway blade, I'm afraid. But I'll bet it feels better than a rake."

He shakes his head incredulously, even as he smiles and slowly unsheathes it to study the blade. It's nothing special, but it's sharpened and oiled. He tests its weight, its centre of balance, checks it for chips and bends. Satisfied, he sheathes it and stows it in his sash on his hip.

"You are like no one I've ever met, Lady Namiki," he says, bowing low to me. "Oishis! Let no one near Lady Namiki! Any that threatens her life, dies!" They surround me almost instantly, their backs to me as they face the threat they once called friend.

"Ah ah!" I announce, raising a finger to accentuate my scolding. "I'm afraid I'll have to tell you the same thing I told my pups. You might be skilled, but in our pack you are but little wolves. Come. Let our wolves protect you."

The samurais smile, unsure, but willing all the same. They kneel so there's still a protective barrier between me and the enemy, while not blocking my view. Good enough, I guess.

The soldiers laugh nervously, not liking how this is going. First the samurais turn on their lord—though uncommon, it isn't unheard of with trashy nobility. Then the same lady that told her people to stand down, tells the samurai that just turned on their lord to stand down as well.

That really should have been Kasamatsu's final clue—the two-by-four between the eyes telling him that he's fucked.

"Are you deaf?! I'm ordering you to kill them! All of them!" But the soldiers stay put. "KILL! THEM! ALL!"

One of the soldiers steps forward, his chef's knife trembling in his grip. "Before you get yourself hurt," I speak up again. "I think you should consider something."

"Like what?! How you're going to kill us?!" the same soldier manages, his voice as a leaf in a storm.

"Where did all my guards go?"

Their fear coalesces, creating almost a whipped cream of emotion that freezes them all in their tracks. Their sweaty, red faces quake in every direction; looking for the grim reapers they've seen guarding me around the clock.

It starts. Growling. A pack of wolves announce themselves, clinging to the ceiling as they drop their camouflage jutsus. Every shinobi up there is more than enough to tear through these pissy-tailed soldiers. If they have half a brain cell, they'd understand that standing down is in their best interest.

"Now," I try to grab their attention again. "I will ask you one last time to settle this peacefully. Return our kitchenware, and we will spare your lives."

I unseal my tetsubo, hefting it up onto my shoulder and righting my glasses with my free hand. I can't lie, the incredulous stares I get tickles me in all the right places. "You have three seconds to comply." I grip my glorified baseball bat, ready for anything.

"Two." There's a clatter as every blade is dropped and the soldiers back away from them. There's also a curious gap, letting me see Kasamatsu's fearful eyes and scowling lips—pick an emotion, moron. I relax my stance, sealing my weapon and smiling all ladylike.

"Excellent. Now, Kasamatsu, if you could sit down and behave? Tetsuhiko-san is joining us for dinner, and we really need to get to that."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Good evening, Tetsuhiko-san, Shijimi-san," I greet them, bowing as they pass through our gates. Over in the gardens, the soldiers are busy handing out everyone's dinner. Even the new arrivals, finally unsealed, have joined them.

"My, Aya-chan. You look lovely," Shijimi gushes, obviously liking the bright pink kimono Mi picked out for tonight—I love the yellow butterflies and the sunflowers on it.

"I would sooner say that about you, Shijimi-san. You look radiant." She gushes and laughs, loving the compliment. Not that I care what she's wearing, but she smells nice—her body spray isn't going to make me miserable, like last time. "Ichimi, Takada. Good to see you again."

"Lady Namiki," they greet in stereo.

"None of that. Just Namiki is fine," I say, motioning for everyone to follow me. "Come, dinner awaits us.

"How is our guest doing?" Tetsuhiko asks, falling in step beside me.

"He's a bit tied up, but he's in the sitting room waiting for an audience with you," I say, smirking.

"No trouble, I hope?"

"None at all. He's as harmless as a puppy." They laugh, quite enjoying my sense of humour. I guide them into the sitting room, where everyone is already seated. Dinner is splayed out over the table, and it smells divine! "Please, have a seat." I motion to the four empty places in the middle of the table, right across from Mi, mom, and daddy. "And I would be most insulted if your guards do not join us for at least a drink."

"Don't worry, Namiki. We're famished," Takada assures me, waiting for his lord and lady to sit before plopping down beside them.

I pump some chakra into my feet and calves, jumping over the table and plopping down between Mi and daddy. "Alright! Let's dig in!"

"Itatakimasu!" everyone choruses, and we start scooping up whatever catches our eye. I scoop up some fried rice and deer kebabs for Mi, while she's busy pouring us some sake. I heap it all on, making sure we have a selection of everything on our plates.

"MMmmmmmMMM!" Shijimi seems quite taken with our banquet. "These are to die for!" she announces, taking another deer kebab and inhaling them. I knew she was a healthy eater.

"Hana's _secret_ recipe," I tattle, rolling my eyes. "She likes to pretend I can't tell just by smelling it."

"Hey! We talked about that!"

"Love you, too!" I tease, getting a roar of laughter from everyone. I take my saucer, clinking it against Mi's and sipping it empty. "So anything interesting happen today?"

"Hmm? Well, Tazuna-san sent a request for more guards. The rogues you left are efficient enough, but they aren't the type to call Wave home."

"I can't say I'm surprised." I bite off another chunk of the deer kebab—they're quite juicy. Auntie Remi really knows her way around the kitchen!

"What about you, sweetie? Anything interesting?" Shijimi asks, serving herself more food to relish.

"Interesting enough, I guess." I shrug, wondering about that. "I got some really cute nail polishes, and matching lipsticks. We bought a stack of new books for our library. Ooh. And we furnished the last bedroom."

"I ordered quite a few weapons, as well," Mi brags, puffing out her chest. "So we'll finally be able to have our armouries decked out."

"You don't say. What'd you get?" Ichimi asks.

"A bit of everything, really. Katanas, wakizashis, jittes, naginatas, yaris, bows, quivers, arrows, kunais, tessen. Oh, and Aya's oh so requested tetsubos."

"I didn't hear you complaining when I let you order new katanas," I rib her, pouring her another saucer. "I mean, we only have like a hundred sealed away."

"Poor quality, though. And we got bulk discount on top notch steel." I shrug, conceding her point. "It really sucks that there isn't a proper shinobi blacksmith, though. There are just some things only shinobi use."

"I hear that," Ichimi agrees, raising her saucer in silent salute. "It's good to hear that you take your training seriously, though. I mean, do you know how many _proper_ kunoichis I see regularly?"

"Point," I agree, purposely ignoring the insinuation that I'm a joke kunoichi. "Ooh, Mi. We need more gloves. And our little wolves are going to need proper winter clothes."

"It's alright, sweetie," Miwako pipes up. "I have a friend coming from Konoha. She's picking that up and more." Mi and I share a look. I'm unsure how to respond, but she seems receptive—I'm assuming that's more about efficiency.

"Alright, thanks," I say, shrugging. "Ooh, good news. We didn't actually buy anyone from that jackass. So the budget is pretty much zero."

"It's not as if the chump could walk out of here with it, even if you did," Takada points out, laughing.

"True. But I find it so much more satisfying that I didn't, because the Oishis all avowed themselves to my clan anyway," I tease, raising my once again full saucer to Yoshitaki and Oishis down the way. They return the sentiment, though some only have a teacup.

"You don't say," Tetsuhiko says, amused. "It would seem that our little Aya-chan is becoming quite the lady."

"Nah," I wave him off. I grab Mi's empty rice bowl and refill it, doing the same for daddy, who's too busy laughing at something uncle Inoichi told him. "I'm not the noble type."

"Samurais do not avow themselves to just anyone, sweetie," Shijimi puts in her two Ryou. "Let alone when they already serve a lord. I would have to argue that you are quite the lady to earn their fidelity."

"Or that Kasamatsu was scum and I look like paradise by comparison." Everyone laughs, unable to argue against that. Mi grabs a stack of kebabs and a few land in my plate—I pour her another saucer in thanks, then refill mine for the hell of it.

"But why didn't you mention that when we asked if anything interesting happened?" Shijimi asks, curious. She thanks Ichimi, who just refilled her saucer and stacked up some more food for her.

"Because I knew they would." Anything predictable isn't interesting.

"You… knew they would?" Tetsuhiko asks, his eyes narrowed and his interest more than piqued.

"I don't know much about samurais." I sip the saucer empty. "But I know about people. And anyone with half a brain would pick a lord or lady that treats them and their children well over scum that would sell them off for a quick Ryou."

"Yes, that makes sense," Tetsuhiko agrees. "So what name have you chosen for them?"

"Huh?"

"Samurais that take a new lord or lady also take a new name, to symbolise their vow. What name have you given them?"

I blink. I tilt my head to one side and I blink again. "I didn't know that," I admit, shrugging. "I'll discuss that with them tomorrow."

"They're the little wolves you refer to, then?" Shijimi asks, her eyes twinkling with delight. I guess she's been asking about our ways, and things are starting to make sense—with how Tetsuhiko clearly favours us, and all.

"Yeah. I don't doubt they're skilled, all of them. But fact is, they're new to the pack. They need to learn our ways before I'll call them anything but little wolf."

"That brings back memories," Tetsuhiko says, nostalgia wrapped around him like a blanket. "Akemi-nee was the same. I didn't hear her say my name until the week before I married Jimi-chan."

"Wasn't that the night you two got so drunk you got alcohol poisoning?" Shijimi needles him, smiling and shaking her head.

"It certainly was. We got into a bar fight earlier that night. It was the first time I pulled my weight in a fight."

"You're kidding," Ichimi and Takada say together, their chins almost in their laps.

"You can't be raised by a wolf and not know how to hunt like one." I nod, agreeing fully. It just isn't done.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 _Sniff_. There's someone at the gate. That crazy chick from T &I that kept showing up during meetings with Hokage-dono with no explanation. "That's her, alright," Miwako announces. She jumps to her feet and rushes out of the room. She's back not five minutes later with the same trench coat-wearing, half naked woman I suspected.

"Oi! Aya. Look who's here," Miwako gushes, her arm hanging around the woman's neck and shoulder like they're old friends.

I pour myself another saucer, sipping as I await an explanation. It doesn't come. The woman is too busy beaming, Miwako is too busy waiting for some kind of happy reaction from me.

"And the reason you let her into our home is…?"

"Aw, come off it, pup. You tellin' me you don't remember your auntie Anko?"

I look to Mi, wondering if she knows this person. "She's your godmother, love."

"First I'm hearing it," I say, pouring another drink. I spy Mi's empty saucer and pour for her as well. "Oi! Pass me another bottle?"

A warm bottle gets handed up the line, eventually arriving in my grasp. I pop the cap, sniffing it to make sure—you never know.

"You got a name?" I drawl, gazing at the suddenly nervous woman. The chatter around me dies down. No one seems to know what to make of this—not even daddy and mom.

"Mitarashi Anko. She's the only other person that could babysit for you when Miwako was on a mission," mom explains. "You really don't remember her?"

"So, Mitarashi. You're my godmother." She nods, worry lining her eyes no matter how well she hides it. "Interesting."

I go back to eating, ignoring whatever those two hoped this was supposed to be. "Sit. You must be hungry."

 **8-8**

* * *

 _Sigh_. Once dinner is eaten, the dishes are cleared. Once they are washed, most everyone clears out so we can deal with Kasamatsu, _sitting_ solo on the little stage. He's bound, gagged, and suspended from the ceiling, force to sit meditation style as he gently dangles about.

The Oishi samurais are all present as well, and they are telling quite the tale about the man's dealings. From embezzling from the royal courts, through his father the treasurer, to 'recruiting' slaves from his family's orphanage, to selling slaves to merchants—who aren't legally allowed to own them, making it an illegal transaction. The list just keeps getting longer, and longer. And poor Kasamatsu hasn't been ungagged yet, so he's listening to the tales pouring out.

Then names and dates start getting mentioned. It was only stories before this, but witnesses that can corroborate this is another tale entirely. Names of the orphans currently camped out in our yard, names of merchants he's sold slaves to, names of events and projects he'd 'taken a little off the top' from.

I'm writing it all down as we go, so Tetsuhiko can investigate this further.

"Well, well, well," comes the happily sung proclamation from Tetsuhiko. "It would seem I have every single detail I was missing. And a slew of crimes I had yet to uncover. Just one final detail."

"Akinari-dono," Yoshitaki doesn't even hesitate, or wait for the question, glaring holes into Kasamatsu. He pulls his wife and children a little closer to him, knowing full-well what his loyalty to the man would have cost him. "He answered to Mitsuzaka Akinari. The Ichihara clan provide the slaves and funds as needed. While the Hamafuzin clan are responsible for the assassinations, and the Kamimitsu were pulling the strings at getting Akinari-dono's chosen into key positions."

"I don't suppose you have corroborating witnesses or evidence?"

"I do not. But they hold meetings at the Kamimitsu compound every new moon at midnight. Surely it would be enough evidence to get someone into the meeting?"

"They'd change things, if they're smart," I shoot that down. Logical as his stance is, no one that has the same information and knows Kasamatsu's either under investigation or arrest would follow the same course. "My advice? Call Hokage-dono. Have a team of Anbu investigate. They're used to these settings, and they work as discreetly as you desire. Set the rules down, and they will follow it to the letter."

"Actually," Tetsuhiko mumbles, his eyes on Hitomi. "I have a rather different idea in mind. Hitomi-chan. I would ask you to investigate the matter further. You're already up to speed, already here, and already involved. No need to cast a wider net and wonder what we catch."

"Agreed," Mi says, nodding. "We'll have them under twenty-four hour surveillance come morning."

"Excellent. Inoichi-san. I'll need you to work your magic on Hideyori. Find out everything he knows and give your report to Hitomi-chan. They'll relay anything I need to know."

"At once." Uncle body flickers towards the dangling idiot, cuts him down, and body flickers away.

"Now. Aya-chan, Hitomi-chan. I believe a reward is in order for a timely investigation and detention of a criminal."

I shrug. "Meh?" I noise, unconvinced. "I enjoyed my week, so I don't need much else."

"Be that as it may. Your diligence has uncovered yet another blotch in my courts. As such, I reward you with the Ichihara lands, servants, slaves, and fortunes. Takada here will bring them by once we've acquired them all."

"Weakening an enemy and giving that strength to an ally. I like your style," I praise, grinning.

"Akemi-nee taught me well." We share a special little laugh, knowing the Namiki clan vibrates with grandmother's spirit. "And Hitomi-chan. I haven't forgotten your condition. So any and all persons you do not desire as your own? If you do not already have someone in Konoha you could offer them to, Takada will also come with a list of clans here in Ryuuhou I would trust. Along with the direct number of a potential ally in the Land of Iron, one Saromi Mifune, general and leader of Three Wolves and the Iron nation of samurais."

"Hmm?" I think about that. "If it comes to that, I think it makes more sense for you to contact him to make the offer yourself. If I call, it might seem like a breach of trust, giving out his number as you please."

His eyebrows jump and fall, he shrugs. "Quite true," he concedes. "Yes, that is quite possible. Daimyos are accustomed to such things, but we know so little about the Land of Iron."

"Then I should think he's our first choice. When we've checked all of them, I'll make a list of who we can ask him to offer a home to."

"I would… ask that you be the one… to deliver them… please, Aya-chan?"

I blink. I tilt my head to one side.

"Hear me out," he just barely isn't begging me. "They are a samurai nation who cast off the rest of the world for the treatment of their ancestors. While they are not against trade, they are against proper alliances, heedless of that nation's standing in the world. They ignore wars, refuse refugees, and have thrived in a barren wasteland in a land ever covered in snow. If we could somehow open a friendly channel with them…?"

"You're betting on Namiki charm worming its way in."

"There is no one else I would trust with such an endeavour, but I assure you, this is purely a diplomatic mission." He thinks about that. "No. Not a mission. A personal favour. One of a most diplomatic and sensitive nature."

 _Gro~oooooan. Sigh_. I shake my head in resignation. It's not every day the Fire Daimyo asks you for a personal favour. "You owe me for this."

"I do indeed." He nods, his eyes showing how deeply he means that.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Just like that. Only more. Focus more energy into it," Hatake instructs. There's a general consensus: my life is about to become troublesome. So, naturally, my training gets kicked into overdrive.

Focusing more chakra into my fingertips, I snap. There's no sound this time, only a slight distortion in the air. I snap again, pouring yet more into it. The distortion grows, but only marginally. It was a speck of dust the first time, now it's two specks of dust.

I sn—

I groan, wondering what hit me. Looking around, I find myself looking up at the clouds again. Fuck. I passed out from chakra exhaustion. **Again**. That's the sixth time today alone. I should be used to it by now, but fact is, I'm not. No matter how many times I passed out with Mi during our training trip, it just never becomes normal.

Labouring to my feet, I let loose a sigh that drains me. "You're confusing." I snap towards Zabuza, who's sitting down nearby with Mika and drinking sake in the early afternoon. "You have the skill to take me out, but you're pathetic in a straight up fight. How'd you survive this long?"

 _Sigh_. He has a point. "Because no one ever takes a midget seriously," I admit. My being underestimated is what's kept me alive. "Let alone a girl."

"I didn't underestimate you," he challenges. I shrug, unsure he understands even the simplest thing about me.

"Whatever." I turn, needing a snack to keep me going.

"You know. The day your chakra is as strong as that brain of yours, you're going to be the scariest midget in history." I wave him off.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"No. You need to mould the chakra in your oesophagus, then spit it out," mom corrects. I groan, ready to pass out from exhaustion. "Alright, let's take a br—"

My eyes flutter open to clouds once again. This is becoming a habit. Pass out, wake up, eat-piss-shit, train, and pass out again.

"Hey-hey. Look who's awake," Naruto teases, sounding rundown himself. Sitting up, I find everyone from our graduating class looking just as roughed up as me. Too tired for a headcount, but the numbers fit. I guess.

"Your mom's impossible," Ino complains. "But seeing how you train that hard on your own, I guess that's a Namiki thing."

"Hnn." Shit. Uchiha speaks. Sort of, at least.

"As if Kaka-sensei is any better these days," Sakura complains—probably translating the Uchiha-speak.

"Tsch," Kiba noises. "You think you've got it bad? Hana-nee refuses to let me fall behind."

"Certainly Namiki-san is in a more precarious dilemma. Why? She trains under all our senseis. She also trains under Nara-san."

I groan, my head once again plopping onto the grass.

"Milady works hard," Reika pipes up, laying her head on my thigh and groaning pitifully from the exertion. "She's always worked hard for the sake of her pack."

"Troublesome little sister." I giggle, enjoying the annoyance in his tone. "Stop training so hard. You're dragging us down with you."

"Nn." I sniff… Asako, I assume. Jeez. Is everyone following my crazy lead? "Did you know each Hayashi trains as tirelessly as My Lady herself?" I smile. I suggested calling them Hayashi, in reverence of the forest surrounding Konoha. They didn't mind, not in the least. Not even when I demanded they all wear the same uniform as the Namikis, with the kanji for 'wolf'. Not even when I demanded they all start training under Miwako.

Satsuma even complimented them for coming to him for other trainings—medical, more chakra control exercises, and learning to make antidotes. He even sent a good portion to Yasu to start learning to read. We have quite the pack, each yearning to grow strong to earn a proper name among us.

"Hey, little wolf?" Asako noises to show she heard me. "We need to take you guys to the blacksmith. Those throwaway blades will no longer cut it."

"Lady Hitomi said much the same. Perhaps you should discuss it with her before you both order blades?"

"That makes sense."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"So here's what I suggest," I drawl, studying the geishas before me. "You have three options. One. You stay in Ryuuhou. You run the Tamanagoya Geisha Company and teahouse. I give you a generous budget, and you find a way to bring in as many customers as is possible to ensure your budget is covered by generated income.

"Two. You serve only the Namiki clan. Money ceases to be an issue, and you continue with your daily trainings and performances, if for a smaller audience. We provide everything you need, and you provide us with music, plays, culture, and entertainment.

"Three. You request relocation. I find another home for you, or set you free so you can find it for yourselves."

The geishas look around nervously. They aren't used to having options, to making decisions as life changing as these.

"Would…?" the announcer, still in her men's suit, begins. "Would we be required to… _entertain_ you… _privately_?"

"No." I don't even have to think about that. They seem mollified by my immediate response. "Mi is the only one with that right. And she's quite possessive, so I wouldn't ever give her the impression you're tempted to.

"So if we follow you. We get to perform?" Hope wells in within them. They enjoy the performers' life.

"Preferably, yes. I enjoyed your play, and Lady Tanaka's Passions is a hard piece to get right."

"We get to play music all day?" Hmm? Is she almost begging?

"Definitely. There's little as soothing and magical as music."

"And we aren't some noble's play things?" Tears well up in their eyes. I can only imagine what Kasamatsu's put them through.

"Heavens no. Namikis only share our bed with their mate. Let alone when it comes to marriage."

"May… May we have some… some time to… to discuss this privately?"

"Take all the time you need. Tetsuhiko won't need that list until at least spring." Something about Iron needing to plant more in the spring for whoever's coming, but I didn't care to ask for details.

"No need. I'm sold," the actress that played Lady Tanaka announces. "I'm with you, My Lady."

"Heh. I won't even have to pretend I'm into guys," the actress that played Ichirou teases, wrapping her arms around her fellow lead. "I could kiss you offstage, and not pretend we're rehearsing."

"If that's what you're into," I drawl. I'm not sure I'd ever care if they're into guys or girls.

"Hey. What about Kanda-chan? He's the best costume designer I've ever worked with!"

"Hmm?" I noise, going over my list. Kanda Tadao, suspected homosexual and a flamboyant one at that. "He'll be made the same offer. It's on him what he chooses." Honestly, I thought Ao-chan would have jumped at the chance to jump his bones—or Tsuji, seeing as their passion for each other fizzled out. "But this changes nothing. I want you to take your time and decide."

"One second," the announcer says, looking around. "Alright. All for serving the Namiki clan?" All hands go up, some quicker than others. "All opposed." All hands go down. All in all, it's unanimous. "Well, My Lady. It was an arduous deliberation, and we thought long and hard. We choose to serve the Namiki clan, and only the Namiki clan."

"Very well. I'll discuss the matter with Yasu-nee. She's in charge of our civilians. So she'll assign you all a bedroom while we're here, and she's the one you need to discuss any grievances with. Anyone that wishes to get married, those matters should be discussed with her as well. But I'm sure she'll explain all of that."

"What if I want to marry my darling Azumi?" the leading 'male' actress asks, her arms around her lover's middle.

"As your clan head, it is my prerogative to sign off on any marriage, heedless of sex. What do you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Congratulations?" she guesses, her eyes soft and teary. I nod and shrug—there isn't much else to say, when someone comes to you and tells you they've met the love of their life and they wish to be married but that. Well, 'tell me more' is good too, and 'when's the wedding'… but congratulations is a pretty solid place to start.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Yes, it's confirmed. Mifune-sama is expecting you towards the end of March. There's a team of Three Wolves samurai in Hamatsu City, in the Land of Rice Patties. If you would be willing to deliver the list to them?"

Well, Rice Patties is closer than Iron. "Alright. We'll leave as soon as Mi wraps up this investigation for you. Please inform them we'll be travelling with full escort."

"They are staying in the Daimyo's palace, it is only logical that they expect you to travel with your guards."

"The daimyo would expect as much, but would the Three Wolves samurais?"

"You could inform Mifune-sama yourself, if you desire? He's agreed to you calling him if the need arises. Though I would be careful, they are in a different time zone than we are. An hour earlier." It isn't much, but that could be all the difference between 'I just finished breakfast' and 'why are you waking me up'.

"I will bear that in mind. Thank you." I don't write down the number he gives me, but I don't need to. "I will call him as soon as I hang up with you. Tell me, how are things on your side? Any reaction from the Ichihara arrests?"

"There was some grumbling, but no one is particularly surprised. The royal bookkeeper least of all, he just couldn't prove it was them."

"That's good. I was worried you'd need tighter security."

"Yes, Ichimi told me you suggested as much to her and Takada. I'm touched."

"I have a penchant for paranoia. Oh, auntie Remi wrote the recipe. I've asked Ichimi to—"

"Our head chef has already been studying all six recipes," he cuts me off. I laugh, quite enjoying the amusement in his tone. "They are most grateful for the assistance. Jimi-chan is quite adventurous with her cuisine, so any new recipe is gods-sent."

"I'll see if I can find some more for them, then. Oh, Hokage-dono mentioned something about a meeting with the new Mizukage next month. Daddy didn't give me too many details, only that my presence is requested. And it would seem the Water Daimyo will be there as well? Could I tempt you to join us? We'd love to have you as our guest in Konoha."

"You don't say? My, my, turning down an offer like that would wind me on the couch for weeks!" I laugh, figuring Shijimi would do just that.

"If it helps, we'll be hosting quite a few dinners like the other night. And you would both be invited by default."

"That does sweeten the deal considerably. And it would be nice to not be overly circumspect. Very well, Aya-chan. I'm convinced. We'll make arrangements."

"Excellent! But you'll be staying in our compound. I insist. Though not as spacious as you're used to, the security can't be beat. And we'd be quite welcoming of any guards you bring along."

"As long as they have a drink with you and yours."

"Of course." He laughs.

"It sounds lovely. Yes, we'll do just that. I'll make sure Hiruzen updates you on our arrival."

"Your ten thirty is early, I take it."

"Quite. You'd think she'd have learned not to wear such a fragrant perfume. I swear, I'm grateful to Akemi-nee, but sometimes…?"

I laugh, almost dropping the phone. "I know that pain well. I'll go check on Mi, see how the investigation is progressing. You'll have word by the end of the day."

"Thank you." The line goes dead.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Hey. Miss me?" Mi teases, pretending my glomping her on sight didn't already answer that.

"Maybe?" I tease her right back. She and her team just arrived, smelling like they've been out in the sun all day. "How'd it go?"

"You were right on the money. They had a meeting today, and we have quite the juicy intel on them. I just need to write up my report, and we're done."

"Good. Then you'll need an update." She grabs my butt, hoisting me higher so she can kiss me. I don't fight her, missing her taste more and more these days. She's been gone for days! That's forever in lesbian time!

She starts walking us to the bathroom so she can wash up. I don't say a word, just watching as she strips us both down—saves me the effort. We don't get frisky, even when we start scrubbing down and lathering up, but it's nice to just lie in her arms in the tub all the same.

"Alright, love. I'm all ears," she says, tugging me to lay my head on her shoulder.

"We have a few meetings set up. Iron towards the end of March. We have to give our list to a Three Wolves team in Rice Patties. I called Mifune to let him know we'll be travelling under full escort, so he'll get word to him team so they aren't surprised. I also called the Rice Patties' daimyo, letting him know we'll be leaving tomorrow morning and should be there in two days, latest. He seems like a bit of a dick, but whatever."

Mi snorts, laughing at how dryly I said that.

"Anyway. After we get back to Konoha, we have a meeting with the Water Daimyo and the new Mizukage. Hokage-dono will update us on the details, and I managed to convince Tetsuhiko to join us. He'll be staying in our compound, for security reasons."

She laughs again. "More like ease of sneaking in a nightcap with the Namikis."

"Was there ever a doubt?" She shakes her head, her shoulders trembling. "So, I've already made arrangements. Ten of our strongest little wolves are coming to Rice Patties. The rest of the clan is returning to Konoha to get everyone settled in. Yasu and I already discussed sleeping arrangements. I have the list worked out, and I have their files sealed."

"It sounds like someone took care of everything while I was working." I blush, biting my lip nervously. "I'm not upset. In fact, I'm touched. Being able to come home and know that you are holding down the fort without me."

I pull back, letting her see the nervousness still lingering.

"What's wrong?"

"Miwako and I kind of…"

"What'd she do?" I sigh, the tension leaving me at last. She isn't asking what happened—leaving the blame up in the air. It's what did Miwako do wrong?

"She refuses to go back to Konoha without us. So the pups and Satsuma are coming with us… in her opinion."

"Hmm?" she thinks about that. "Do you feel comfortable bringing the pups? I mean, we're only going with ten Hayashis."

"And your team. And Zabuza and Haku are coming as well."

"So security isn't the issue. It's Miwako telling you what's going to happen." I nod, looking away from her and heaving a sigh. Stupid, stubborn Miwako just likes doing what she wants to do. "How do you feel about that?"

"It's completely illogical! I already felt bad having to tell Hoshie and Sakiko they can't come. They weren't happy about it, obviously, but they understood. And then Miwako shoves her big fat nose into it, undermines my authority, and tells me that they're coming, because she's coming. **_And_** that she isn't hearing any two ways about it!"

"What'd you do to her?" she asks, cocking an eyebrow. I blush. "I know you didn't take that sitting down. What'd you do to her?"

I cast Short-circuit jutsu on her and, just before she passed out, I kicked her in the face hard enough to send her flying to the other side of the sitting room and bowl over at least a dozen people in the process. Obviously. "Nothing she couldn't anticipate."

"Short-circuit, huh." I blush even deeper. "You love your genjutsus."

"She deserved it!" I cross my arms in righteous indignation.

"Probably. But is that how you want disagreements within the clan to be handled?"

"You're supposed to be on my side, you know," I grouse, pouting even as I glare dully.

"I'm always on your side. But I don't sugar coat things. Not even for you, love."

 _Sigh_. I lay back down, resting my cheek on her shoulder with my nose teasing her neck.

"You need to talk to her. Tell her exactly where she stands and what her boundaries are." _Sigh_. Fine! "You want me to come with you?" I nod, holding her tighter.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"The girl's got a thing for kicking people in the face. Just like her mother," Mitarashi ribs Miwako, elbowing her good naturedly. "She did the same thing when I tried introducing myself. I couldn't break out of her genjutsu either. And she broke through my genjutsu like it was a wet paper bag."

"I don't know what to do anymore, An. It's like everything I do just pisses her off more." Obviously they don't sense me walking towards them. Or maybe they do, and they want me to hear this.

"Have you tried backing off?"

"I _can't_. If I back off, she'll never speak to me."

"I get it, but you two have history. You were her world, Wawa, and to her, you walked away. Even you have to admit that hurts."

"I know that! That's why I need to get through to her." Miwako looks about ready to cry, drinking her sake straight from the bottle. "She's hurting. Hurting bad. I can't leave her in pain!"

"And _this_ is the better option? I mean, shit. Satsu said she broke your nose in three places."

"The genjutsu was worse." She snorts, amused and I dare say proud. "I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. My chakra wouldn't respond. I've never even _heard_ of a genjutsu like that! And she casted it seallessly!"

"Tsch. You'd almost think an Anbu Captain and a doctor had a baby or something."

"If you two are quite done," I drawl, crossing my arms and shifting my weight to one leg. The pair of them snap their noses up at me, colour draining from their faces. It would seem they were emotional enough that they dropped their guard—something that shouldn't be a problem in our sitting room, surrounded by packmates, but no doubt an issue to Anbu Ops.

"We're going to set down ground rules. And I expect you to follow them to the letter, Miwako." I sit down across from them, grateful that Reika and Mi sit beside me. "First off. I am the alpha here. What I say goes. If you don't like it, you will ask for a private meeting with me, and you will lay out your reasoning in a calm and logical fashion why you disagree, and what should be done instead."

Miwako and Mitarashi blink, obviously not having seen this coming.

"Second off. No one just puts their foot down and demands that things be done a certain way and no other. If ever you ask me why something should be done, I will have an explanation ready. If I do not, I have no right to assert anything."

Miwako narrows her eyes, before flicking her gaze to Satsuma and with a muttered sigh, "Just like your father, I swear."

"Third off. You are in no position to tell me what to do with the pups of our pack. You can at best argue for Hoshie and Kenshin, but not the others. You don't know the reasons why I want them in Konoha while I'm in a foreign country dealing with unknowns. If you did, you show no concern for their wellbeing."

She winces, closing her eyes. She's coming to terms with being either ignorant or heartless—neither of which would sit well with a Namiki.

"You're the one that fucked up. Don't make Hoshie and Kenshin suffer because you're so focused on salvaging a long since sunken ship."

"Then tell me what I can do?" she begs. "I refuse to accept that you'll hate me forever."

"Stop trying to have a pissing competition with me, for starters!" The room goes quiet. I feel everyone's eyes on me, but I can't stop myself. "You didn't seem to give a fuck when I had to keep your fucking charge safe. You didn't seem bothered that I was five fucking years old taking on thirty year old chuunins who were either drunk, high, or both. Or that if I failed, it meant watching Naruto die. You didn't care that I lived in the Red Light District. That all I could smell all day every day was women selling their bodies to pay their fucking bills. And _now_ you want to be all sob-story about it?"

"I—"

"You come crawling back into my life when things are at their best. When I finally moved back into our den. When I have a plan in place to take care of all our clans.

"But tell me. Where were you? When I had to drag myself away from Hokage Mountain, because the temptation to throw myself off it got too much. When every kunai looked like a way out—and knowing the exact location of which vein I'd need to cut certainly didn't help. When the drug dealer down the road sounded like he had a good idea on sale. When _men_ were gawking at me like I was a pussy begging for their cock. Where were you when I **actually** fucking needed you?"

"I…" she tries to form the words, but they don't come.

"What? No comeback? Or did you think I started off as Tetsuhiko's advisor? That my life was a bed of rose petals wafting in the summer breeze? Bitch, I went entire fucking winters with no heat, because I had to fucking pay Naruto's hospital bills!"

She snaps to Jiraiya, anger in her eyes.

"Oh. So it's his fault? It's _your sensei_ that didn't come back to Konoha to check on me?" She baulks. "Shit, why not look to your buddy there? Miss I'm-your-godmother that I met at age twelve." Miwako glowers at Mitarashi, who only sighs and grabs a new bottle.

"And she was right on the money. She tried talking some stupid shit the day some ass-backwards cunt tried to convince me that the three people that cared most for me were either trying to rape me or were using me as a plaything to make them look better.

" **That** would seem like a good time to have my _mother_ there to fucking hold me. Or to have my _father_ there to break the piece of shit in half for trying to coin me off onto Shimura fucking Danzo. After all, **that thing** would only use me as breeding stock. He'd only have a dozen assholes stand in line to fuck my brains out so Konoha could have a dozen little Namikis he can turn into soulless dolls."

That's all her heart can take. Tears stream down her cheeks, sobs wracking her body as she hugs herself. And yet, her eyes see only me. The broken little girl she did her best to fuck over by not caring enough to piss on her. "I'm s… I'm sor… sorry."

"Tell that to my childhood," I snipe. "Now get your ass up and go pack your shit. We leave in the morning, and I am not going to hear any of your worthless excuses about being late. Can you do _that much_ without fucking up? Or should I draw you a **map** so you can't claim you got lost for the **next** _eight years_ of my life."

"You're right," Miwako says, standing and trying to hold her bottle with her shaking hand. "I'll see to that."

That hits me hard. I don't know why, but seeing her in pain just makes me want the earth to swallow me whole. No matter how upset I am with her, no matter how badly she hurt me. Her pain hurts us both.

"I will need a private meeting with you later. To discuss my reasons for wanting Hoshie, Kenshin, and Sakiko to come to Hamatsu. And I'm sorry, I should have asked to speak to you, instead of giving the pups the impression they can play us against each other to have their way. It won't happen again."

She turns and walks away. Her hands quaking as if her heart lies in a million pieces, and I'm the one that shattered it—is it because my pain was too much for her? Was hearing the endless tortures I endured more than her heart could handle?

"I'm going to train," I say, jumping to my feet and walking the other way—completely forgetting there's only one fucking door to get out of this place.

"Love?"

"I'm fine!" I snap, a tear escaping to prove me a poor liar. "I… I need to be alone."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 **Snap!**

The little ball forms, hovering in front of me, awaiting my command. No bigger than a sweet pea, I channel it towards the target. It explodes on contact, two hundred decibels condensed into physical mass tearing the straw and cloth to shreds—it joins its three compatriots in tatters.

I breathe hard, darkness fighting to claim me.

A minute later, I find myself on my hands and knees. I don't remember falling. Did I black out? It got dark there for a second, but I don't know.

So, three is my limit. Four and I risk a blackout. Better than it was. I get up, looking around. The dojo is, of course, empty other than myself. But one sniff, and it feels like I'm in a crowd.

Asako and her father—who, for some reason, wanted a different given name, so I called him Masashige. Mom. Keiko and Misato. Reika and Sakiko. Mi and her team. They're all so close I can almost feel them.

I foist my balled fists into the air, flashing forward, jumping and snapping my knee at my imaginary opponent's chin. I bounce off the wall, rolling and coming up with an elbow to the groin, jumping and snapping the make-believe asshole's neck back with my knee again.

When the kicks and punches no longer soothe me, I unsheathe my new bright pink trench knives and continue with them. My punches are far deadlier, with the brass knuckle and the blade held in ice-pick grip.

It isn't long before even that does nothing for me. So I sheathe those blades and unseal the new twin wakizashis Mi got me. The same alloy as her new blades, only mine are bright pink, with yellow butterflies on the sheath, and the grip wrapped with crimson silk. Mi knows me so well it's scary sometimes. Especially since she got me reverse-edged blades—even the trench knives. She must have gone back to that blacksmith and changed the order, to surprise me.

I stuff both, till sheathed, into the sash that Asako bought for me. She told me that she saw something super cute that she wanted, so I didn't ask questions as I handed her a few thousand Ryou to go nuts with. She came back with this sash—a soft pink, with earthen brown wolves running around on it.

I smile, noticing, not for the first time, that I stow my sheaths on my right hip.

"It's about time you showed up," mom says, sounding amused. I sniff, smelling Miwako nearby—she has food with her, and she smells of steel. I don't think I'm ready to face her. If I hurt her again… my heart can't take it, not tonight—if at all.

"Is she alright?" she asks, her voice quivering.

"She's been at it for hours. I think she blacked out a few times, but every time I look she's back on her feet."

"That's not…"

"Go in and see for yourself."

Footsteps come closer to the paper screen door, pausing to knock. "Yes?" I ask, wondering why there's no response. I told everyone as clearly as I can to leave me the hell alone. But, of course, the one I want to see least has to be the one that is least willing to listen.

The door slides open, revealing Miwako and mom and Reika and Mi and quite a few others itching to see how I'm doing. _Sigh_.

"You skipped dinner. That isn't like you," Miwako says, slinking over to me. As if they just needed someone to 'break through the barrier' everyone comes in right along with her. "Come. Sit. You don't want it to get cold."

"I'm not hungry," I lie easily.

 **WRRRRRRRRR!**

TRAITOR!

"Then at least feed the wolf pack in there. They might rebel otherwise." I snort, fighting not to laugh—she used to tell me that all the time as a pup, just to get me to laugh and eat when I was too worried about her having an arm or leg in a cast, or was so bandaged up that only her scent identified her, or she smelled so highly of salves and medicines that it would churn my stomach.

She didn't bring much, one large bowl with stirfry and a pair of chopsticks. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm a bit out of practice with cooking."

Tears well up, not matter how hard I fight them.

"It's fine." I take the bowl and utensils, wolfing it all down. It's too salty, the deer is too tough, and the rice is oily…

So why do I feel like this is the best meal I've ever eaten?

 _Sigh_. It was easier when I was pissed with her. I could at least hide behind that, shield myself with my anger and keep her away from the mess I've become.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this right now."

"Was the food that bad?"

I shake my head no as I click my chopsticks on top of the bow. "I just don't think it's a good idea to see you. I'm too upset, I'll just say something hurtful again. And if I hurt you, I'll…" Tears stream down again. "Please. Just leave me be."

"You never did like to see me in pain," she says, taking a cautious step towards me. "But I'm not hurting, sweetie. Inoichi's helping me with that."

"You don't get it," I say stepping back. "Please."

"I _do_ get it." She steps forward again. "Your pain hurt me. And me being hurt is too much for you. It's why Satsuma didn't want to talk about it the other day. He begged me to keep my big fat mouth shut and let him do that talking."

 _Sigh_. "I wasn't there, Aya. But that doesn't mean I didn't think about you ever day."

"C-can… can we… can we not do this… not tonight."

"It'll still hurt in a hundred years. Do you want to hurt until the day I die, only to realise it's too late to work it out?"

 _Sigh_. "It's after midnight. We have—"

"Please stop running." _Sigh_. "I married your father. Do you think I can't see every nuance of him in you? The way you fight so hard not to fight? The way you bury yourself in your books to shut out the world?"

"How would I know what we have in common?"

"The way you dog-ear your books, you fold the bottom corner, not the top. You hate reading the synopsis, and the blurbs are only interesting if you can't open the book in the store. You'd rather be alone and read if you can help it, but reading while cuddling is your promised land. You eat your veggies first, to get them out of the way, even though you know eating them last is healthier. You like your eggrolls salty. The sweet ones make your stomach churn. Your love for chocolate you got from him as well. You two would pig out on the couch every chance you got. _Especially_ when it was snowing. You two made a tradition of making hot cacao and opening the sliding doors to watch it snow."

"And I thought it was because of Chouji," I laugh at myself. It makes sense, though. Sitting in his lap while it was snowing with hot chocolate is one of the few things I remember.

"Your first word was chocolate. Not mama, like most pups." I laugh, tears dripping down without a care. That sounds just like me. "You skipped all the easy ones and went straight for the good stuff. Gods, did you drive me crazy with it. Satsu was so proud, though. And he'd give you another chocolate every time you said it. So of course you'd said it a few dozen times a day. You didn't even learn to say 'no' for six months because of it."

"And your butterfly thing? Him again. When you were learning to draw, it was all he could do well. So that's all he'd show you. Teaching him sealing used to send my blood pressure through the roof."

"So I got drawing from you?"

"Of course. Minato would have a fit if I didn't draw something perfectly, and Kushi was even worse. She had me drawing every day I was pregnant, just to keep me practicing. I remember Satsu was almost in tears, warning me that I'd better not ask him to teach you to draw. So you know I had to."

"What a… what about singing?"

"Satsu. He can't stand doing much of anything unless he's singing, or at least humming to himself. Washing the dishes, cooking, washing his hair, cutting the grass. Hell, I used to ask his patients if he wasn't singing while he was operating on them. Your love of puzzles, anagrams, cryptograms, also him. He used to drive me nuts with his stupid little riddles. And the more annoyed he was with me, the harder the riddle. Hell, that's why he chose 'logic' for the kanji for your name. He swore you were going to take after him."

"Numbers?"

"Well… that's both of us, I think. I'm great with running numbers through my head, which he sucks at, but if he would sit his ass in the chair long enough to draw out a sealing matrix? He'd make me look small time."

Her arms snake around me. I didn't even realise she was so close.

"Your intelligence. Him and then some. I'm not stupid, but gods he used to confuse me so bad when we were dating. I had to ask him to explain every other word for the first few weeks. But your memory you got from me. That man would forget his head if it wasn't attached to his shoulders."

I sigh, contented. The same feeling I get when Mi holds me—like I can't fall apart in her arms—Miwako makes me feel like that.

"Your cuddling, though, that's Namiki all the way. Your father used to get so annoyed with me when I just feel like cuddling up to him for no reason. I kept telling him it's a wolf thing, and that all our kids'll have it. He didn't believe me until you came along. And gods did you love cuddling with us. You wouldn't even take your nap unless one of us was holding you. Or I summoned Tsuren, you loved cuddling with her, too."

"Your public displays of affection, that's me." She laughs at her own words. "Namikis couldn't care less about that. In fact, I remember Yoshi-chan walking in on me while I was busy losing my virginity. Scarred her for life."

I snort, shaking my head. "She did the same with me. She was a wreck for weeks."

"I'll bet. And I'll bet you're the aggressive one, too."

"That's not always true. Mi has her moods, and I love them as much as I love shoving her on the bed."

"Heh. Gods, I would give anything to get your father so riled up he shoves me on the bed and strips me down. He's such a prude. I'm amazed we got pregnant as fast as we did, really."

 _Sigh_. "If only we could get pregnant. We'll probably end up needing sperm donor."

"Yeah, probably. But look at it like this, you get to listen to her complaining she's getting fat. I mostly get Satsu half freaking out because I twitched."

"Guys are so helpless sometimes."

"True. But he does this thing with his tongue when he's going down on me. Gods, he can make a mess out of me before he even puts it in."

"Mi, too. She has this thing where she straddles my leg and twiddles me into a puddle of goo."

"And I'll bet you like playing with her ass while you're going down on her, too. Drives your father wild, though he hates it when I talk about it."

"She more does that with me. I like sucking on her clit more than anything, but I can't lie, I love teasing her. Letting her think I'm going to give her what she needs, then veering off course at the last second. And playing with her boobs? Oh gods, she gets the most amazing boob-gasms when I get in that kind of mood."

"O-kay!" Mi jumps in, physically pushing us apart. "That's enough heart-to-heart for one night. And frankly, most of the girls are ready to pass out from blushing so hard."

I look around, wondering why this would even bother them. It's just sex talk. It's not like we're doing anything.

"Don't worry, baby. When we get Hana and Tsume over for drinks, and we get enough booze in Kakashi, we can pick up where we left off."

"You should mention that prostate stimulation is quite pleasurable, by the way."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"We should part ways here," I say, meeting Masashige's gaze. He nods, setting his son down. "You're not coming with us, little wolf. Not this time."

"My Lady, I…" he trails off, closing his eyes. "May I know why?"

"Because our people need strong leadership in our absence. I need you at home training our little wolves, guarding our pups. And more importantly, your wife and your pup need you after everything you've been through."

"Asako is coming with you. Would it not make more sense that I come so she doesn't suffer without me?" Good point. She might be putting on a brave face for me.

"I understand your stance. But that doesn't negate my points of needing you home. So, little wolf," I turn to Asako, "what do you say? I wouldn't blame you for needing your parents after what you've been through."

Asako tears up, her eyes wide with surprise. "Could… could I stay with my parents? Just… just the once?"

"Of course, little wolf," I assure her, smiling brightly. "Be sure you keep practicing like I showed you. And help the pups if you can."

"Thank you!" She flies at me, wrapping her arms around me before I can blink. Thank-you thank-you thank-you!"

I push her back, her short hair fluttering in the wind as wildly as the grass surrounding us. I kiss her brow and murmur, "Go on. Your father needs you as badly as you need him."

"Naruto. You keep an eye on the pack while we're gone."

"You can count on me, momma wolf!" he promises, giving me a face-splitting grin and a thumbs-up. "You just come home in one piece! I still have a lot to thank you for, you know!"

Loud as ever. You'd swear he's an Uzumaki. "Will do, blondie. Keep my girls safe?"

"You know it!"

I nod, turning to mom and daddy. I walk over to them, wrapping an arm around each. "I love you, daddy. I love you, mom."

"Hey, keep talking like that and I'll start thinking you're not coming back," mom teases, pushing me back and running her hand over my covered head. Her eyes twinkle, showing me she loves me, even without saying the words. "I want you to call us as soon as you get there. And don't forget to check everything for poisons and drugs. And only eat your rations bars if you can get away with it. Even food ordered in a restaurant could be dangerous."

"We'll be careful," I promise, "and I'll be extra careful with how they word any kind of request. I'll be sure to say daddy needs to approve of anything I find dubious, just in case."

"You do that," daddy agrees, kissing my brow. "And keep your mask on at all times. I don't want this daimyo getting any funny ideas with my little girl."

"I will." I give them another squeeze, and I kiss them both on the cheek for good luck before going to Shika-nii. "You'd better keep practicing. I'm gonna beat you when I get back."

"Che," he snorts, shaking his head. I haven't come close to beating him in shogi, not once. He tugs me in for a hug. "Someone has big dreams."

"Worst case, we get to laze about and cloud-watch after," I tease. "Keep an eye on Ino for me? She's such a blonde sometimes."

"HEY!"

"I will. But I'm not promising not to complain about it."

"I can HEAR you!"

"Fair enough."

"And don't ask about that other thing. I already know." Keeping my pack safe. Yeah. We know Naruto's willing, but a motivated Nara will trump that any day of the week.

"Alright. I'll see if I can't bring back a cutie for you."

"H-hey!" he pushes me back, looking betrayed. I smirk, my eyes twinkling with mischief. "Troublesome brunette. Go on, shoo."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 32_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: Seeing how I haven't updated regularly, I figure giving you guys two chapters after a weekend is fair.  
_**


	33. Don't blink

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 33 – Don't blink_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Welcome, welcome! You must be the famous Lady Namiki!" the man announces, his face lit up as he rushes over to our group as we're escorted towards the massive double doors of the palace. He looks from one of us to another, seeming confused about something. "Uh… Which… one of you is… Lady Namiki?"

I fight not to laugh. We're all dressed in matching outfits, with almost no difference between our little wolves, our pups, Miwako and Satsuma, or Mi and myself. The only ones standing out are Zabuza and Haku, and he clearly doesn't think either of them are Namikis.

I step forward, bowing slightly. "Lady Namiki Aya, head of the noble clan of Namiki and advisor to Mitsuzaka-dono," Reika announces for me. It makes my skin crawl, but Yasu-nee said this is just how things are done. "And her consort, Lady Namiki Hitomi, advisor to Mitsuzaka-dono."

Mi and I share a look. She asked Reika to introduce her just like that I don't doubt. She smirks, raising an eyebrow to ask if I mind—already knowing I won't. I give her a steamy bedroom look instead of silly words.

"Of course, of course. It's an honour and a privilege to meet you both," the man continues amicably. "I must admit I'm confused, though. Why are you dressed identical to your guards?"

The courtyard is grandiose, easily the size of my Ryuuhou manor, with room to spare. The palace itself if pristine. The wood is carefully lacquered, the shingles all glimmering in the mid-morning sun. The double gates we just entered through are wrought iron, painted white as the puffy clouds lazing about. If only we didn't have to walk through the slums of a city surrounding it. No high class, no gentry, no nobles, nothing. Only slums in every direction for as far as the eye can see.

"We are wolves, my good sir. Find any pack, and try to spot the difference," Reika challenges. "Though I believe you forget yourself?"

"Oh my, you're right! Please forgive me. I'm Honshu Nida, Lord Nobuzama's personal aide. Please forgive My Lord for not welcoming you personally, but he's otherwise detained at the moment." He laughs nervously, a poor liar. "He should be joining you this evening, of course. And the gentlemen from the Land of Iron are waiting in the sitting room, if you feel up to meeting with them now?"

Reika looks to me. My eyes smile. She turns to Honshu. "My Lady is tired from her journey, but she is willing to see them now. If you would be so kind as to take us there?"

"Of course, of course. Right this way, right this way!"

The entrance hall is as big as our sitting room. We're all handed house slippers, and he asks four out outside footwear. I step out of mine, up onto the raised floor—the daimyo is very traditional, likely old money.

A series of poofs tells me our slippers are sealed away, another series follows and Reika places an indoors pair in front of me. I thank her with smiling eyes.

"Of course, of course. Many ladies bring their own slippers. How silly of me to forget," Honshu says, almost humouring me as he motions us further into the palace. "It's right this way. Right this way."

The walls are lined with elaborate ink wash paintings, some as large as a door, others larger still. Cranes taking flight, bears being hunted by nobles, columns of soldiers being addressed by their lord—no working class images, no rice workers that this land is famous for, no men massaging their cow with sake for the Kobe beef they are also famous for. This daimyo doesn't know a damn thing about this country.

We enter the next room ahead of Honshu, who's bowing and motioning us all through. The door is slid open enough that we can enter with almost a metre between Honshu and us, and still not feel the other side of the doorway. Extravagance like I've never seen.

Inside, just as we enter, we face an alcove with a golden statue of crane, holding a rolled out scroll in its beak. The kanji for 'wealth', 'prosperity', and 'longevity' are painted on it with bold, red ink. There's also a flower arrangement, one that looks so fresh I'd be amazed if it doesn't have roots in the vase. I don't know the first thing about flower arrangements, but I assume it says something pleasant.

The tatami mats smell fresh, as if they were just woven, and the low table large enough to seat a hundred, with elbow room. There's a little koi pond built into the table. Literally, built into it. And there are a dozen fish swimming about like nothing's the matter. The water smells fresh, if obviously containing fish—something about a bacteria needed to keep them healthy, or so Yasu-nee told me while we were koi shopping.

To the far side of the table, to the 'lower end', I see six men in thick dark blue winter kimonos. Their chakra smells of iron ores, and their hands are callused to show they've trained hard with the blades they bear. The katanas are all neatly laid to their left, with the grip towards their knee and the curve away from them, as Asako told me is the custom for samurai sitting down. There was also mention that some clans set the blade differently, depending on their mood or stance on the meeting, but she didn't know too much about that.

Of the six, only two are strong enough to be worth noting. Of those two, only one worries me—the silver-haired one that has his eyes on every pair of breasts he sees.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please meet Lady Namiki Aya, her consort Lady Namiki Hitomi, and their entourage. They are advisors to Mistuzaka-dono himself, so do mind your manners."

"Che," the silver-haired one snorts derisively.

"Please forgive my brother, he isn't used to the heat," the second strong one soothes. "I am Saromi Kamaoshi, heir to the Saromi clan and Mifune-sama's eldest son. With me are my idiot brother, Takanatsu, and our guards, Mizatou, Yoshitoshi, Anzou, and Itsumaru."

"It's an honour to meet you," Reika soothes, just as Mi and I take our seats opposite them. She takes her time introducing us all, even though Kenshin dashes around Miwako towards me, squealing at being able to run around again. "And this little firecracker is Namiki Kenshin, Lady Aya's youngest sibling," Reika rounds off her introductions.

"There. Protocol has been pandered to. Can we please stop with the—"

"We cannot assume their customs and our own are identical, little brother. Stop making a mockery of yourself, it reflects poorly on us and our nation," Kamaoshi chastises him. "Please, My Lady Namiki. Forgive my beloved fool for his outbursts. He believes all such meetings should be conducted with sake pouring down from the ceiling." I hear 'and naked women dancing', even though he doesn't say it.

"One of my trainers is every bit as bad," I soothe, my eyes smiling to show I'm not upset, though mostly to make my next statement all the creepier, "though I feel I must warn you. Should he try to touch any of my pack, I would be honour bound to emasculate him."

The silver-haired one gulps painfully, his hands disappearing under the table to guard his crotch.

"And what a _shame_. My weapon of choice is a tetsubo, so I might not succeed on the first attempt."

Kamaoshi laughs, slapping his brother on the back and almost sending him flying our way—both of his guards scramble to grab him and are frantically pulling him back to safety. "You'd have my blessing if you do," comes the predictable announcement, though the little brother is far less impressed to hear it.

"Tell me, Lady Namiki. You speak of weapons and trainers. Are you a warrior?" Kamaoshi asks, his eyes warm and welcoming.

"My attendant also spoke of my consort. Surely you don't think to woo me?" I warn in my sweetest voice.

"I wouldn't conceive of it, My Lady. I've heard your warning loud and clear, and I will abide by it. I do, after all, intend to marry and father children. I'll be needing that." My eyes smile warmer this time.

"Then, yes. Though I am trained as a kunoichi, so I'm not sure I am a warrior inasmuch as a samurai would define the term," I say. We've been sitting down seiza thus far, but I think ruining the overly formal mood is just the thing. So I slip my butt off my feet and sidle closer to Mi and laying my hand on her thigh. She wraps an arm around my waist. Even without looking, I know she's smirking to show she's the only one allowed to touch me like this.

"What weapons have you trained with?" Kamaoshi continues.

"A bit of everything, really. Katana, wakizashi, twin tessens, trench knives, tetsubo, kunai, shuriken. I've also recently taken up archery and the naginata. I fear I'm a bit eclectic, but mother refuses to let me overspecialise in one thing and get myself killed for it."

"A wise decision. And I must applaud her forethought and your diligence," he praises. "We are much the same, you see. Though we focus primarily on swordsmanship and katana forms, we master an array of weapons before we are even allowed to take our formal exam to don the title of samurai."

"We're no different, really. Though I fear you place far more emphasis on the eight pillars of bushido and the honour living by such a rigid code brings." The brothers share a look, impressed at my knowledge. I really need to thank Asako for suggesting those books. "Though I am not proud of it, we are taught that winning is all that matters. And we've suffered war after war for it."

Zabuza sighs, no doubt leaning against the wall to show how bored he is. I think he was hoping we'd break out the sake and drink away our troubles—it'd pass the time in his eyes.

"Yes, this has been our estimation of your fate as well. I do hope you can bring some of that wisdom to bear with your new position of advisor."

"Oh ho," I protest, beaming all the same. "Wisdom of writers who've long since left this plane, I assume you refer to. The only wisdom I've brought the Fire Daimyo is Namiki teachings. And we are far less forgiving in such matters when it comes to war."

"Oh?" that intrigues him.

"You see. Namikis aren't the lapdogs my position and title would seem to suggest. We are wolves. And our stance is always quite simple on these matters. When in our territory, you are either an ally, prey, or beneath our notice. To wage war against us means we are forced to notice. And it certainly makes no ally of the aggressor."

"So they become prey. But only if they bring war to you?"

"Exactly right," I agree, bowing my head to him.

"And those outside your territory?"

"May do as they please. Not our territory, not our problem."

"Simple. Straightforward. No room for pretence or posturing," the silver-haired one mutters. "I like it."

"I would have to agree," Kamaoshi says, nodding approvingly. "Though I wonder what that would make the Samurai Nation?"

"I've seen no mention of your nation invading another country. And I have no intention of fighting a war at all, let alone against those that would not present itself as an aggressor."

"Hmm. If the Land of Fire's stance matches your own, I would almost be tempted to move there," the silver-haired one gets out, before getting punched in the thigh by his brother.

"What he means to sa—"

"I agree with him. For every wise person seeking balance and peace, there are always ten idiots seeking the prospective gains of war. Though, let me assure you that I have Mitsuzaka-dono's ear when it comes to these things. We will defend, and we will flush out those who would attempt to undermine the stability of the peace our reigning daimyo has offered us these long years. But we do not provoke. That is not our way, and it is not a way I will tolerate from any of our nation."

"And… how does My Lady propose to keep the peace against… such odds? Ten to one isn't a fair fight, after all," Kamaoshi asks, narrowing his eyes slightly. He worries that this is where the kunoichi in me takes over.

"One only needs to raise a sword when one has run out of avenues to broker peace. And thus far, I've been yet to find cause to raise a sword," I explain, smiling. After all. I can kill with genjutsus. Why raise a sword, when raising an eyebrow could kill just as efficiently?

"I see," Kamaoshi says, impressed. "Yes, that is most fortunate. I admire your resolve to solve things peaceably." I didn't say that, but close enough.

"Ah. But I am forgetting myself. We've come to present the list of names of those we've freed and hope to arrange a new home in the Land of Iron." I look to Reika, who unseals a scroll and lays it on the table in front of me. I unroll the scroll, showing name after name with a little seal under each. "Marked are names of those I've screened, and beneath their name is a storage seal containing their file. In it, you will find a recent passport picture, pertinent data on the person in question, including any medical information of note, and their job history."

I offer the scroll to Kamaoshi. "Please feel free to check any and every file you wish. And should there be any questions, I would gladly answer what I can. Other than what they look like naked." I glare at the silver-haired one. The brothers share a look and burst out laughing.

"Am I that transparent?" the younger one asks, guffawing with tears in his eyes. An eye-roll is all he gets from me.

"I'd take that as a yes, little brother."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Lunch rolls around. We meet up with the Saromi contingent in the same sitting room, meagre meals splayed out before us. The Saromis all have quite the feast, though. Insult number one.

I sniff our food, finding it not poisoned but no more appealing than before its scent got analysed. It's too little, too poorly prepared, and too fucking little. I mean, hell. Not only wouldn't I let Lady eat this if she were here, it wouldn't even be enough to fill her tiny stomach.

"Mama. I'm hungwy," Kenshin complains. A poof tells me Miwako just unsealed a proper snack for him, and the scent of an apple fills the air as she cuts it. Without being asked, he plops onto the table in front of her, and she turns him slightly so his back faces our fellow guests.

"Aya-nee?" Sakiko and Hoshie no doubt want the same treatment. I nod. Not a second later does Reika unseal my 'snacks scroll', and hands it to me. I go through it, figuring they'll want something sweet. We had lunch in our room, after all, so we can be sure no one will see under our masks, but they're growing girls. And they're worth it.

"Come. Sit up here," I pat the table in front of me. Ha! Brownies! I unseal three of them. The pair of them come over and sit with their backs to the Saromis. They pull down their masks keeping their gaze towards the wall, just as they should, and accept the brownies with a beaming grin.

I unseal so napkins as well, handing a few down towards Miwako so she can help Kenshin look less of a mess when he's done. "Come, Reika. I know you want one as well."

Not missing a beat, Reika turns around and leans up against me. She pulls down her mask, already quietly munching on her snack.

The Saromis, meanwhile, can't seem to make sense of any of this. "All I ask, gentlemen, is that you respect our desire for privacy," I say. They nod, going back to their extravagant meal. The four guards look guilty, eating when we so clearly refuse to—let alone us being offered such paltry meals—but the two 'lords' don't share in their hesitation.

I kiss Reika's brow, quickly following up with a kiss to Sakiko's and Hoshie's.

A hand finds its way to the small of my back. Mi wants in on all the kisses. I turn, just in time to see her unfolding her fan to hide her face as she lowers her mask. I bite my lip, my eyes twinkling at her forethought and her desire to taste my lips.

She leans in, pulling down my mask for me, and we kiss. Soft and sweet, just how I like it. I sneak in a few extra little pecks, thanking her for being so sweet without the need of words, before helping her pull back up her mask. She pulls up mine, before snapping the fan closed and laying it on the table in front of her.

"I think you'll make an excellent mom," she says, a dreamy smile taking her over. So that was the lead up to the kiss? Well, I enjoyed it all the same.

"So I'll be the softie and you the disciplinarian?" I tease, waggling an eyebrow teasingly.

"It'll end up like that anyway," she muses with a shrug, smiling even brighter. I roll my eyes, shaking my head as I grab the napkins and start sorting out our pups.

"Better?" I ask, my eyes smiling for them.

"Much! Thank you, Aya-nee," they say together, rubbing their tummies happily.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

The day kind of drags on. No word from the daimyo, but we were already told he'd meet us for dinner. We mostly walk the grounds, entertaining the Saromis as we go. This is by far the most boring place in the universe. And I really am tempted to join Zabuza's 'we need sake' team, if for no reason but to pass the time.

"So why the mask?" Takanatsu asks, looking longingly at the open space that he probably thinks is ideal for a workout or a spar, or both. Probably both.

"Mi bought it for me, before we went on a training trip through the Land of Fire. So, of course, once our wolves saw it, they just loved it, and it kind of stuck," I admit. "Besides, it shows us to be a proper pack."

"There's that. Though I must say, not seeing your face is a bit boring," he complains, sighing.

"I'm saving your manhood," I tease, getting more than a few amused chuckles from the group.

"That means you're gorgeous. So now I have to see!" he tries. I unseal my tetsubo, hefting it up onto my shoulder.

"Anytime you're ready." Kamaoshi doubles over, laughing so hard his face is on fire.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Dinner time. Honshu shows us into an extravagant hall, where the daimyo is already seated up on a stage and surrounded by his elite guards. The room itself is… it probably cost more to decorate this place than I spent on my entire manor!

The chopsticks are solid silver, the plates all gold. The curtains are a lustrous and rich red. The tatami mats so soft that I just want to lie down and go to sleep on them—futons seem overrated next to these babies!

There's a single, large window that dominates the wall opposite the daimyo, so he can stare out at the lawn and ignore his guests, no doubt.

There are portraits hung on every surface. Paintings of people I don't know, and don't care to know. But they're life-size, and exquisitely crafted pieces of art. They must have cost a fortune!

That's not even getting started on the koi pond in the middle of the room with fish and turtles going about their business. Or the crystal glassware. Or the chandeliers—chandelierSSSSS—hanging from the ceiling. One ginormous one in the middle that looks like an inverted Christmas tree, all lit up. And another five scattered about to ensure the lighting is 'absolutely perfect'.

Again, I find a discrepancy in the meal as it's being served. The Saromis have six servants tending to them, bringing dish after dish and pouring enough tea and sake for a group ten times their size.

We, however, get the same meagre meal. And I don't mean the same amount, or the same cooking style. I mean the same fucking meal. The servants likely kept it for us, and neglected to so much as warm it up.

They even put our same dishes on top of the golden plates and served it that way. Insult two.

The Saromis look profoundly uncomfortable, but they say nothing.

"Ah, Saromi-sama!" the daimyo speaks up. "Itatakimasu!" Insult three.

"It would seem we are unwelcome," I say, standing. My pack doesn't hesitate, standing with me.

"Now, young lady. There's no need to make a scene in front of my guests." You already have three strikes. Why are you going for more?

"I thank you for your hospitality, Your Grace. But we really must be getting home." We start moving towards the door. We don't bow, we don't incline our heads. Nothing.

"You forget yourself, miss."

"Oh? Quite right. I haven't called home as yet." I turn to Honshu, calling him over with a lazy wave. He grabs a phone and comes running with it. I dial Tetsuhiko's number.

"I thought you'd be calling about now. How goes the meeting?" he asks, a frown obvious in his tone.

"The Saromis have received us with grace and warmth. I do believe there is hope for a friendly channel between our nations. I will, of course, be calling Mifune-dono to praise his elder son's poise, and to rib him about his second son's mischief." He laughs, as do the Saromis. "They've already received my list and the dossiers."

"And the daimyo?" he presses, worried.

"I've never met a man more determined to insult me to my face. Find someone else to entertain him next time." I make sure I'm looking right at Lord Piss-ass as I say it, so he knows I'm talking about him. The room goes deathly quiet. "Don't worry though. We're leaving to prevent this from escalating further. I warn you, though, Tetsuhiko-san. If I see one blade unsheathed, I cannot guarantee there won't be an incident."

"Do what you must, Aya-chan. I will deal with the repercussions myself. As long as you come home to us, it is acceptable."

"Understood." I press the little nob to hand up, and immediately start dialling Hokage-dono's direct number.

"Please tell me this is a social call?" he begs, not even needing to confirm who it is.

"Do I strike you as the chatty type, Sarutobi?" He sighs, probably shaking his head in annoyance. "What is our current diplomatic relationship with Rice Patties?"

"Shaky at best. Their hidden village isn't hostile, per se, but I'm guessing that's about to change?" Soldiers start pouring into the room. "Those are boots I hear. And I take it you already called Mitsuzaka-dono."

"I have the Fire Daimyo's blessing to do what I must. How do you think this evening will end?"

"With me having a migraine," he grouses. "Well. Just make sure I have a report on this, and I'll make sure all teams along that border know it might become a hotspot."

"I want a medic to every team. And not replacing a member, mind you."

"That bad?"

"If one of my pups gets scared. How do you think Miwako, Hoshie, and I will respond?"

He groans, probably rubbing his forehead. "Alright. Thank you for the swift update. I'll be sending a team north to aid in your extraction. Rendezvous at the Valley of the End."

"Understood." I click the little button again, dialling Mifune's number this time. A woman answers. "Good evening. This is Namiki Aya. I need to speak with Lord Mifune immediately, if at all possible?"

Swords are drawn, and samurais smelling of three different lineages pour in with yaris and naginatas.

"Lady Aya? What's the matter?" Mifune demands, sounding a harried. "Has anything happened with my sons?"

"No, Lord Mifune. I am calling to ask what the Land of Iron wishes us to do. You see, the daimyo of Rice Patties is making consecutive mistakes that are going to escalate into his palace becoming a blood bath in the coming minutes."

"I don't understand." One idiot comes charging at me. I cast the paralysis jutsu, tripping him up and sending him flying over the floor with a clatter. "Are you being **attacked**?"

"Just one idiot, so far. There will be more. They seem most fixated on me and mine, but I question if their hospitality will hold once my people start truly defending our pack. What would you have me do for your sons? Do you trust they will be safe without my aid?"

Reika gets her ass in gear, handing my Prisoner scroll to Miwako, who starts sealing away the pups, even Reika, and our little wolves. One of them protests.

"Not this time, little wolf," I call out, cutting into their little debate. "You will no doubt earn your name, but now isn't the time and this isn't the place."

"My Lady, please! I beg you reconsider!"

"I will not risk consoling your mate and pup at a grave. You will have another chance." He looks like he wants to protest, but another five idiots come barrelling towards me. I spin around Honshu and paralyse them just the same as before. "Five more idiots. Time is short. Your answer?"

"Escort them safely to Konoha. Call me when the moment you arrive."

"Understood. Allow them to engage?"

"Negative. The Taira clan are relatives. Don't spill a drop of blood if you can help it."

"Tall order. But I'll manage. You'll be hearing from me." I hang up properly. "Thank you, Honshu. That'll be all."

"You are most welcome, Lady Namiki!" he assures me, beaming. He scampers away, seeming to glow that he was thanked for doing something. "My, my. So polite, so polite!"

"Alright, people! Updates! Saromis, Mifune wants you to come with us! Zabuza! **No** killing spree! Mifune doesn't want a drop of blood spilled! Miwako that counts double for you! Seal Satsuma, I doubt he wants to go through this! And Saromi! Did you want me to seal you and/or your guards until we arrive?!"

Miwako and Zabuza are cursing about my orders, but they seem okay with it—more or less. They'll bug me for a tub of sake when we arrive to make up for it, I don't doubt.

"Hmm? We can handle ourselves, thank you," Kamaoshi assures me, standing and stuffing his katana back into his sash. His contingent quickly follow suit.

People to be mindful of. Miwako, Zabuza, Haku, Mi, Michiko, Zeitou, Eimi, myself, six Saromi samurais. We're up against hundreds of fully armed soldiers and samurais alike, and we're not to spill a drop of blood. I assume killing them without spilling their blood means the same thing to Mifune—troublesome.

"That's our exit!" I point to the large window.

"Let's make this happen!" Zabuza announces, nodding to Haku. They dash for it, but only she touches the glass, the room growing icy in seconds. The Saromis seem quite fine with the temperature, but the others start shivering. Sleet starts to form, just as Zabuza unseals his blade and swings.

With a thundering crack, the glass flies out, in one piece, only to tumble in the grass and shatter. The chunks and splinters sprawl out over the lawn, leaving two options for us—right and left.

Another group of idiots rush me, to their daimyo's chant of 'kill them all'. That must be a theme with nobility. "Move it or lose it!" We dash through the new doorway, rushing to the left and towards the towering fencing. "Zabuza?!"

He body flickers ahead, swiping at the gates wrought iron poles with his blade and snapping them like twigs. A doorway forms with his second swing.

We keep picking up the pace as we dash through the slums of the city, trying to see how fast the Saromis can go.

I'm not exactly impressed, but they aren't mine to train. We make in out of the city in an hour, just as the full moon starts to rise. It's going to be a bright night. And I don't doubt the Rice Paddies shinobi have been alerted and will be hunting us all fucking way to Valley of the End—not to mention the subliminal message of fighting our way 'to the end'.

"Hey! Anyone feel like chocolate?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Why are we veering off course?" Kamaoshi asks, after the eighth switchback. I've kept the pattern completely random, so no matter what they try, they'll never pinpoint our location or heading.

"It's to lose their trackers," I explain. "If we were travelling at top speed, I'd take us the most direct route, but they'll have faster groups. This is the lesser of two evils."

I sniff, finding nothing around us. For now. "Break. Five minutes." Everyone fans out to see to their needs, but I stay put.

The palace guard and samurais were laughably slow. We've yet encountered no resistance. This going too well. Either we are walking into their trap, or they are the least organized army in the world.

"Chiko?"

"There's a settlement up ahead. Two kilometres." I know, I smell it. "Only shinobi."

"I'm aware."

"You're taking us there?"

"No, I'm letting us get lost in their scents." Only a Namiki could track us by scent now, and that's worth the risk. "Anything I'm missing?"

"Like the woman running with a newborn?"

I sniff deep, but I don't smell her. Down wind or not, that's not normal. I sniff deeper, still coming up empty. She's trying to lose her pursuers as well. "Mi?"

"Time's up! Let's move!"

We dash ahead. I let Mi take the lead, heading us straight for the woman. The closer we get, the less sense this makes. I smell nothing out of the ordinary. Just a settlement filled with genin-level shinobi, and the typical wildlife that would venture so close to a human settlement.

Even when the redhead comes into view, when I see her and her baby, I smell nothing. Not even her chakra. I dash ahead, stopping in front of her and hold up my arms to show I'm no threat.

"What's going on?" I ask her.

"Na… Nami…miki…" She's out of breath, and there's blood on her—I can't smell that either.

"You're injured. Please let me have a look at you?" I beg her. Her violet eyes look up at me, out of focus. She can't see me. "Please, miss. You look like you've lost a lot of blood."

"You a… are a… Nami…miki."

"Yes. I am Namiki Aya. Head of the Namiki clan. I am here with my pack. Please, try to focus miss. Let me see if I can—"

"Take her," she demands, holding out her baby, her arms quaking. "Take her… please… I beg you…"

I go to her, unsure what to make of any of this. Barely a step away from her, I sniff deep. Nothing. I check for signs of a genjutsu, but find nothing.

"She's… she's the last… of the Uzu…makis." Colour drains from my face. She's an Uzumaki! "Please, Na…miki…san."

I take the baby, uncaring if this is a trap, and carefully settle her in my arms. Mi takes the woman, her Byakugan blazing. She turns her nose to me, shaking her head, no.

"She… she's your… your dau… daughter now… gua… guard her like… like all Na… Namiki… guard their… pups."

Her heart stops beating. She gasps for air that doesn't seem to come. Her eyes ooze her fear. She reaches out for the little girl in my arms. And yet she smiles.

Then it all stops.

I sniff, smelling her at last. Uzumaki. Lowborn. Chakra strong enough to rival Naruto and Asami. The woman's skin turns grey, the blood stopped flowing. But even now, she smiles—as if she achieved the one thing that let her die in peace.

The baby wriggles in my arms. I look down, finding a mess of matted and bloody hair, her eyes tightly shut as she tries to suckle. Her tiny hands keep writhing about, as if she's unsure what to do with them. The little blanket she's covered with does nothing to hide her secrets, or to keep her warm.

A poof. The scent of the woman wanes. Mi sealed her away, so we can give her a proper burial in Konoha. The next thing I know, Mi's hands are on my arms. I look up, seeing a sad smile.

"We'll raise her," she says. "Together. You and me."

Warmth wraps around my arms, Mi's unsealed something to cover the baby. My brain just can't function. I don't know what to make of this. One second we're dealing with asinine guards that can't find us. The next I have a daughter almost thrust into my arms by a dying woman.

"Cold," I murmur. WAIT! My baby was just born, and nothing was checked!

I plop onto the ground sitting on my butt and jutting up my knees to have space to work, setting the still wriggling little gift on my thighs so I can work. My hands glow green as the Mystic Palm flares to life. Her navel string was poorly cut, and it's infected. I leech off what I can, dissolving what I can't. She's going to be a mess for days, with the blood she's lost. And her stomach is completely empty. She hasn't fed. I'll have to do something about that.

No abnormalities, but I'm not trained in paediatrics. Her organs show no signs of damage. No abnormalities in her bones or blood—other than the infection I just halfway dealt with.

She still has the goo on her that her skin needs to absorb to keep it healthy. Luckily, I drained the infection half on my pants and half on the dirt, so that won't trouble her any more. Her bowels are underdeveloped, but I'm not sure if that is normal with babies.

Okay. So we need to get her to the hospital the second we get to Konoha, and she needs milk. Stat. I jerk back my hands, so this doesn't affect her.

Gods, this is going to **_suck_**!

My hands crackle with the intensity of my chakra, the glow almost becoming bright as the moon. I place my hands against my flat chest. I set my jaw, to prevent me from biting my tongue, just in time to feel my chest explode from pain. The skin is suddenly unbearably tight as my mammaries swell. I focus on healing the skin, letting it grow and swell along with the sudden surge in boob-matter.

I'm going to be severely malnourished for this, but better me than the baby.

Figuring that should do the trick, I stem the flow of chakra and I start peeling up my shirt. I pull up my suddenly WAY too small bra, ignoring the wet splotch from my milk.

Taking the baby, I lay her in my arm properly and bring my nipple to her mouth. She makes a seeking motion, as if she knows what should happen. Her mouth opens and closes, and her tongue keeps working as she tries to get what's coming to her.

Then she latches on. Pain slams into me, my vision suddenly white. I knew they would be sensitive. But DAMN!

I shake my head, but white speckles linger.

A squeeze.

She has my finger. In her tiny little grip. Somehow she strikes me as both strong and fragile. Oh so fragile. Even through the pain, my heart melts.

"Come on." Mi scoops me up, carrying me bridal style so the baby can continue her meal in peace. I carefully wrap the baby up, making sure she can breathe comfortably and doesn't choke.

I don't even care that the night's chill licks at my tummy, all I notice, all I care for, is the desperate suckling of the baby that just stole my heart and refuses to give it back.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"She needs a name," I say just as we make another switchback.

"Have you thought of any?" Mi asks.

"A few," I murmur, blushing up a storm.

"So you've been thinking about babies lately." My face is aflame, my tongue suddenly lame. "You're a Namiki. I'm pretty sure that comes with the package."

"Damn straight," Miwako chimes in. "You mind waiting until Satsu's unsealed? He has a knack for picking just the right name."

"Okichi."

The running slows, then stops. All eyes are on me.

"Namiki Okichi," I say again, louder this time.

"Your father's daughter. No doubt in my mind," Miwako brags, puffing out her chest.

Mi's eyes find mine. Mine nervous but hopeful. Hers warm and indulgent. "Namiki Okichi," she agrees, nodding gravely. "We're registering me as the father."

"That's fair," I agree, nodding.

"And you're not going anywhere that isn't safe enough for her."

"…" Shit. The trip to Iron. She's WAY TOO YOUNG. "We'll just have to work it out," I agree. No matter that it was thrust on me, this is my path now.

A warmth spreads on my tummy. That isn't emotion. I sniff. Yup, Okichi just peed on the both of us. And the chunky, mushy thing doesn't strike me as pee. I sniff again. Shit. Literally.

I'm set on my feet without needing to say a word, and we set about sealing the now dirty cloths—is that one of Mi's uniforms?—and unsealing something else. I make sure she's as clean as we can manage, and I cast Mystic Palm to check her again, just to be sure. The infection seems to have been stemmed—thank the gods.

Okichi is wrapped in another of Mi's uniforms, and I hold her close to me once again.

"Shit."

"Hmm?" Mi asks, sounding worried. "What happened? She okay? You okay?"

I shake my head. "Nothing like that… it just… feels official…"

"Huh?"

"Giving her a name. It makes it official. That we have a baby."

Mi smiles, shaking her head. "Nursing her didn't quite get you there?"

"Hey!"

"It's a good question, love."

"Hmph," I pout, grumbling about stupid people infringing on how I'm processing it all.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

As if the rest of it wasn't bad enough. As if the pain from growing B-cup breasts from flat chest wasn't enough. Or a baby greedily sucking on super sensitive nipples wasn't enough. Or being peed and shit on wasn't enough. What do I need on top of all this?

My fucking period.

Not a lot, mind you. No cramps. No bloating. Nothing. Just enough blood dripping down to stain my panties and pants and to make sure it's blatantly obvious that I just got my period and was utterly unprepared for it.

And Mi was carrying me when I felt it coming down. So, of course, I now have blood down my ass-crack and fucking up the back of my pants.

"Fucking. A."

Okichi stirs, already squirming and suckling to show how much she cares about my dilemma.

"You know. When your momma makes a mess out of me, it's usually in private," I snipe. Everyone laughs, but the Saromis almost go to the floor with that.

She wails, her little lungs sucking in what air she can as her hands tremble with the intensity of the cries ringing out like a siren in the still of the night.

"Aww. Mommy's sorry, Okichi. I didn't mean to upset you," I soothe. I still feel like utter shit, but baby needs her warm meal. So I pull up my shirt once again, and I position her so she can start working in her meal. It's every bit as sensitive, and she goes at me like a wolf on a downed deer, but I guess I'm getting used to it.

"We're making horrible time like this," Mi says. "But we just can't go any faster without making it obvious where we're going."

"We have to get her home, Mi," I state the obvious. "Her umbilical cord was infected, and I don't know if I got it all, or if I'm missing something. And we have nothing here for her."

"I know," she murmurs. "But that means taking the direct route. That means plausible resistance. And that might mean risking a fight against unknown numbers and strengths."

"You think we should tell them?" I sniff, finding four weak chakra signatures.

"I think we should tell them." I snarl, giving those pissants the only warning they'll be getting.

"Uh, I think they already know. Should we tell them anyway?" A group of four. Chuunin level, cocky as all fuck, and with the scent of a hundred more heading this way.

"If anyone scares my daughter," I grind out, "even the Shinigami will feel bad for you."

"It's alright, love. I'll handle this."

"No," I refuse, grabbing her arm and tugging her right back beside me. "We don't have time for those shits. Okichi comes first."

"Alright. I'm game," Miwako says, pulling down her mask and growing heads taller—and furry as all hell. Her eyes glimmer yellow in the moonlight, her fangs aching to be sunk into those assholes threatening her pack, her pup and her pup's pup. She grumbles and whines, telling us to go ahead and that she'll catch up.

"If you come back with one scratch, I'm going to be pissed," I warn her. She grins in reply, motioning us ahead. It's never a good thing when a wolf grins—even less so when a pissed off Namiki guarding her beloved does so.

We dash ahead, me and Okichi once again in Mi's arms.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We finally arrive at the Valley of the End, the expansive copse and waterfall and all the peaceful lovely signs. All of it can go straight to fucking hell!

There's no one here. Not from Konoha. There is a team, though. A team of four. They stink of stale air and corrupt chakra that makes me want to hurl.

"Love," Mi says as she puts me down to stand on my own. "For this one time, stay out of it."

I growl, my fangs itching to grow, my face aching to shift and mutate.

"Take her," I demand.

"No, love. Let me take care of you."

"I'm not losing you!"

"And I'm not risking the mother of my child," she soothes.

"Aww, ain't the just adorable little shits," comes a snide monotone. "Makes me wanna fucking puke." A redhead, the sole female. Smallest by far, and her face looks as if built to scowl.

"Language." The big one next to her is the largest. He looks like the Chouji of their group, likely a taijutsu type, earth chakra on his scent.

"FUCK YOU, LARD ASS!"

The big one sighs, shaking his head. "Knock it off," the tall one with six arms orders. He comes off as the leader, though the circus side-show freak beside him with two heads is by far the creepiest. "Lord Orochimaru wants his experiment back."

My eye twitches. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"What? You deaf, midget?! HE SAID! WE NEED THE LAB RAT YOU STOLE!"

"Mi. Take her."

"Now, love, think about this."

"I said. Take her." I glare, murder plainly written in my eyes.

"You said you don't wanna fight," she tries.

I grab her arm, and carefully give her our daughter. The only reason I am not baking those little shits in killing intent, is because I can't focus it in one direct. That means it'll startle my baby. That means that after the most fucked up night of both our lives, she'll also be inconsolably frightened.

But as I walk to them, as I grab the hem of my mask and start to pull it down, all I feel is rage. They not only want to take my daughter, they want to use her in sick and twisted fucking experiments?

No, rage isn't strong enough—no word ever will be.

The mask unveils my nose, already growing into a snout.

Growling and snarling fill the night, but not mine. A blur flashes in front of me, and suddenly two of the four disappear.

Or, two heads and a body disappears. I find momma holding a skull in each hand as her head twists and tugs. A loud squirting noise and a snap later, she pulls pack. Her fur is bathed in blood, and the murder in her eyes matches mine to a T.

The redhead, that fucking dared to call my baby a lab rat, and fat one stare, their eyes wide and mouths handing open. That just isn't enough for me, though. To want to take my baby from me, from her momma when she needs me most?

Unforgiveable.

The two remaining shits. They stare at me as I grow. As my face morphs. As my glasses are pulled askew from the ears now higher and further back. My muzzle is now full of fangs itching to taste their blood. My lips are tugged taut, showing every pointy chomper and the gum they're attached to.

Colour fades to black and white as the scene glows in my vision. I see their every nuance, the way they swallow painfully, the way their lives flash in front of their eyes.

My knee is jammed into carrot top's face, sending her flying. But that just isn't enough. I grab her by the head, spinning and ramming my clawed foot through the other's tummy and out the other side.

I bite into an arm, and rip it off with a twist and a tug. A leg soon follows.

"That's enough," Hatake drawls. He, auntie Tsume, Hana, and Mitarashi just body flickered into the clearing, but I don't care. These things—

A murmur, a squeaked little cry. My baby!

Like a switch is hit, all I can think about is my baby. I dash ahead, grabbing Hana and dragging her back with me. "Please. Please, my baby. She had an infection in her umbilical cord. And something's wrong with her intestines. Please!"

Tears sting my eyes as I continue dragging her towards Mi, towards my baby. My Okichi. My whole world.

"Alright, alright. Calm down," she soothes, walking ahead on her own power. "Hold her out for me?"

Her hands glow green as time freezes. Winter, spring, and summer come and go before we're back in autumn, and Hana's still scanning Okichi.

I fucked up, didn't I. I didn't drain off the infection well enough. She's going to get sick, she's going to be in pain. Oh gods, no. My heart can't fucking take this!

"She's fine."

I drop to my knees, hugging myself. I can't cry in this form, and yet I feel my cheeks wet. I dab at them, feeling furless skin. I undid the transformation?

Mi squats in front of me, righting my glasses so I can see.

I don't understand. It's as if I short-circuited and all my emotions are a jumbled heap inside me. Too many extremes too quickly.

And yet, Okichi is carefully laid in my arms, and Mi picks me up. A soft sucking sound reaches me, and I feel my baby rubbing her nose against my breast.

"Hey," momma says, suddenly beside me. "Check it out, not a scratch." She's covered in blood, head to toe. But her yellow-brown eyes smile bright as the moon behind her, and her face is smooth—if sticky from all the gore.

"Momma," I croak out.

"Cute as this is, I have patients that actually need care," Hana says, sounding amused for some reason—I'm sure it makes sense to someone.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I crack an eye open, finding things too fucking bright. It's always the same shit. That asshole sun just likes to rise whenever the fuck he feels like, and he never cares what I have to say about it!

"Hey, sleepyhead," I hear, but I swat the speaker. "Hey! What was that for?!" I swat them again.

"Go 'way," I grumble.

There's some exchange I don't follow. I turn, burying my face in the warmth my cuddlebunny offers. I breathe her in, letting sleep claim me once again.

"It's time to wake up, love," I hear.

"S'eepy. Go 'way."

"Aaah! Uuh! Aaah! Uuh! Aaah! Uuh!" comes the squeaked siren calling for a warm meal.

"Shit."

"I told you," Mi says, sounding too amused for my liking. My shirt is wet, my boobs already pumping milk for the baby not yet attached to them. I open my eye, scanning around me. Reika is bringing my milk-guzzler. "Naruto, out. Now."

"Alright, alright. I'll see you guys later, okay?" That was Naruto? And where the hell are we? Fuck it. Let's just get Okichi fed so we can both go back to sleep. I turn and sit up, taking my baby. I unbutton my shirt… I don't have shirts with buttons… whatever. I unbutton my shirt and take out my breast. Okichi latches on almost instantly, the pain waking me up just enough to notice we're not alone.

Reika, mom, momma, auntie Mariko, auntie Remi, Michiko, Eimi, and all my sisters are all here. Along with Minori, Ao, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura. I blink, but quickly decide it isn't worth the brain cells. I let Okichi have ten minutes on one boob, switching her over onto the next one.

She's wearing a pink onsie. With dog ears sown on top, her hands and feet covered by fluffy paws. I think I missed something. A few somethings, if I'm not mistaken.

"Okay. Where the hell are we?"

"Konoha General Hospital," Mi soothes, tugging me to lie back against her. "The maternity ward, to be specific."

"O-ka~aaaay. How'd we get here?"

"I carried you. The second we arrived, Miwako-sensei started bragging about her new granddaughter to everyone, and well… of course everyone came to meet her."

"Tha… okay. Wait. Take a step back. I passed out?"

"You don't remember nursing her the last six times?"

"So, I didn't pass out?"

"It's pretty common, Hitomi," mom soothes. "I don't remember how I got through the first three months either." The other veteran moms all laugh, nodding sagely as they confirm my worst suspicions.

"Things'll get easier once she starts sleeping through the night, don't worry." I groan. "Hey, your own fault. You decided to pick up a new-born on the way home."

"Thanks, mom. I _needed_ that."

"At least she didn't get any stretch marks," momma teases, a knowing grin telling me she's too happy to care what anyone has to say about this. "Besides, if it'd been me? I wouldn't have done a damn thing different. I'm proud she's taking on this responsibility."

"I understand, but still! She's twelve!" blondie pipes up.

"What would you do, Ino?" momma challenge. "If a woman comes stumbling to you and already passed the point of no return. Only, this woman is from… the Nara clan, for emotional value's sake. She thinks her baby is the last Nara, and she knows you'd raise her as your own. What do you say to that?"

Everyone grows quiet. The gentle suckling of my baby draws my attention. The way she pulls and tugs on me for everything she needs. The way she's utterly dependant on me for even the littlest thing.

"She died with a smile on her face. Because she knew Aya would do everything she could to raise Okichi as her own. That she would have the safety the Namiki pack offers. And that she would have packmates around her at all times so she can gripe about how gods-awful last night was."

Everyone laughs, especially the mothers. There's a knock at the door. Haruno Mebuki peaks in, asking if she can enter.

"Okichi's meal time. Females only," Mi demands.

"Sorry, Kizuna. You can wait with the others." Mebuki comes in, shutting the door and she just loses it. She starts gushing and cooing and has hearts in her eyes—must be a genjutsu. Or maybe my brain's too addled. Something.

"Oi. Seriously. Rough ass night. Cut that shit out."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

It almost feels like a blur, the rest of the day. How everyone comes bearing gifts for Okichi. How a doctor comes in to check me and Okichi, giving us the green light to head home. How we arrive, only to find every she-wolf beaming at us, congratulating us, offering every form of help they can—from advice from an experienced mother, to baby play-dates, to company during those gods-awful nights when baby doesn't want to sleep.

Mi opens our bedroom door, escorting me and Okichi into our little safe haven. Only. It's not the way I left it. There's a crib in the corner—a white one, at its highest setting so I don't have to dive in to dig out our new daughter. And there's a little baby carousel hanging from a stand, with wolves and silver moons. It looks like it can be wound up to make it spin, and maybe play a lullaby. There's a changing table next to the crib, of the same white, stacked with diapers and wipes and rompers and onsies. There's even a little padded 'bed' cushion, so I won't feel like I'm battering my baby by laying her on the hard wood.

And a little trash bin. The kind you can turn a dial to tie off the scented bag to keep the _aroma_ from overpowering the room.

Beside the changing table, there's a little closet of the same white. Only this one has painted-on wolves and butterflies—both pink. I open the two doors, finding tree drawers to one side—each stuffed full of socks and cute little outfits of all kinds. Behind the other door is the hanging space, with three expensive-looking outfits already hung up. One is a tiny pink kimono with white bunnies on it. The second is a frog onsie, complete with bobble-head eyes. The last is a pink shirt with a grey wolf glaring and baring its fangs at any onlookers with a true Namiki styled warning written in bold: touch me, I dare you.

On our bed are a maxi-cosy and a bouncy-buggy so we aren't stuck in our room all day with her. And there's a wooden playpen over to another side, already set with a comfy and warm blanket and a slew of plushies for Okichi to play with—a fox with a second tail sown on, a frog, a wolf, an Inuzuka-styled ninja hound, a brown pug, a monkey, a boar, a deer, a butterfly, a snake. There's even a plushie in the form of a chocolate muffin!

"Welcome home, love," Mi murmurs, hugging me from behind.

"So, what do you think?" momma asks, entering with papa a step behind her.

"It's…" I trail off, drinking in our bedroom as best I can. Turning back to them, I offer my brightest smile. "It's perfect."

"Good. 'Cause I ain't gonna lie. All this baby googoo has me itching to have another. You get some rest. I'mma go fuck your father's brains out."

"That's fair. Hey, we should talk to mom and daddy about them having another, too!"

"Too late. Even Mebuki and Tsume are itching. You started a damn chain reaction."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 33_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: And there you have it. Hitomi, Aya, and Okichi. Don't think Aya's life is going to get boring, now that she has a baby, but kids have a weird habit of changing things. Let's see what those changes will be.  
_**


	34. The New Normal

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 34 – The New Normal_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"There, there," I murmur, dialling a number from Hokage-dono's private phone. "There, there." I press the speaker phone button and put the headset down—don't know why I didn't do that in the first place. I rock the maxi-cosy back and forth, hoping to settle Okichi down so she doesn't wake up.

"Namiki Aya, I assume my sons are safe and well," Mifune answers, sounding irritable.

"They are. Forgive my delay, I was in hospital yesterday and I was busy all night with my new daughter."

"Ah… I… I see. Are you in good health?"

"Good health? Yes. My night's rest doesn't agree, though," I say, being completely honest. Everyone in the room laughs at my expense. "You're on speaker phone, by the way. Your boys and their guards are right here so you can ask them just how much like shit I look right now."

"She does have a point, father. She looks… rather spent."

"Kamaoshi has a talent for understatement," Takanatsu ribs him. "She looks like hell, dad. But I think those shinobi that attacked us are much worse off."

"They attacked you all the same, then." Mifune sounds pissed. I don't blame him.

"We don't know, father. They never got close enough for confirmation," Kamaoshi soothes. "The Namikis are quite protective of those around them. We could have slept through the whole ordeal and the result would have been the same."

"I'm grateful," Mifune says, sounding relieved.

"So listen. I'm thinking that this is the perfect opportunity," I begin my smooth talking. "Your sons are already here, and I've put them up in the nicest hotel Konoha has to offer. So it might make sense for you to have them scout around. I could show them around the village, introduce them to the clans and clan life here. You could get a first rate view of who we are, all with no more effort than has already been spent."

"Hmm…?"

"This is only a suggestion. If you say you want your sons home, I will gladly arrange a proper escort. If you say that isn't needed, they are free to leave with no strings attached. But… I believe so much more good could come from having them see who we are and what we're about."

"There is wisdom in that," he says, but doesn't sound convinced.

"They would be under Namiki protection the whole time." I roll my eyes, to show the Saromis I'm saying that for Mifune's sake. "And they can give you their number so you can call any time you want. In fact, you'd be most welcome to join us as well. After all, I have a meeting with the Fire Daimyo, the Water Daimyo, our Hokage and the new Mizukage coming up in three weeks. It could be an opportunity for you to see up close and personal for yourself, or you could ask Kamaoishi-kun to represent you? Either way, if you decide to have a friendly relation with us, you'd see who we are from a dozen different angles that no amount of phone calls could ever hope to match."

"Tell me." He's about to change the subject. Shit. And I thought it was going so well! "Of the palace guards. How many were injured?"

"None, father," Kamaoshi answers. "Aya-sama had her guard break through the window and then through the fencing. They could argue property damages, nothing more."

"And yet you were attacked?"

"That… I'm not sure why, father," the elder brother says, narrowing his eyes. "It would seem shinobi of Rice Patties wanted Aya-sama's daughter more than they wanted us harmed."

"They wanted her daughter?"

"Yes, father. For some experiment, it would seem. Aya-sama didn't take it well when they called little Okichi a lab rat."

"There's more than you're telling me."

"It's more complex than they know to explain, Mifune-sama. It's like this. During our escape, we found a woman, an Uzumaki woman, with her newborn. There's a long history between our clans. We were their fiercest and most loyal guards, often entrusted with protecting their children until they were strong enough to become warriors themselves. So she offered me her child before she died. We believe they were running experiments on her, and planned the same for my baby."

"I see."

"I do not know if the daimyo is aware of this. But given our reception, I am not inclined to care if he does. So long as he leaves us in peace, we'll leave well enough alone."

"That's quite generous, all things considered." The accusatory undertone tells me he thinks I'm lying to him.

"Selfish, really. This way war doesn't start, and I'm home to mind my baby. We all win. Isn't that right, Okichi-chan."

Poor Okichi has no idea what's going on, but she looks at my smiling face all the same. She doesn't smile—I've repeatedly been told she's too young to smile—but I see happiness in her eyes anyway. I'm a little disappointed she isn't napping, but with a little luck, I'll be able to take a nap after her next meal—works out better for me. And really, I'm starting to suspect she hates sleeping unless I'm holding her.

"What is Konoha's official and unofficial response to the incident?"

"Mifune-sama, I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third and reigning Hokage of Konoha. Let me assure we that we have no official response. And our unofficial response, suggested by Aya-chan herself, is to increase border security to the north. We've shortened rotation time, and we've added a medic to each team. Nothing more. She's quite right, we have no interest in bullying what we see as a weaker nation. And we have no casualties or injured to warrant so much as an investigation."

"Now, now, Sarutobi-sama. Do you really expect me to believe you didn't take any of the assailants into custody for questioning?"

"Of course we did. We simply didn't put any effort into chasing them down. And our medics have saved both their lives." Hmm, they're feeling each other out, seeing how open the other is about their own inclinations in such situations.

"Yeah. Dad, seriously. Whatever you do, don't talk smack about a Namiki kid. Shit. Aya-chan would have eaten those two if her baby didn't start crying."

"Nah, we don't eat people when we transform. But raw deer does have its appeal."

"You've seen her transform?"

"Well, yeah. Aya-chan and her mom, Miwako-san. Fierce warriors, dad. I mean, I barely saw them move!"

"Two Namikis transformed. In front of you. And you were unharmed?"

"That's what I just said, dad. I mean, yeah, little Hoshie might lose control, but the wolves themselves? Nah. They're cool, as long as I don't try to pet them."

"Nice save," I rib him, giggling.

"I see. And who have you been introduced to thus far?"

"The Inuzukas. They are the party animals, and damn can they hold their liquor. Hatake Kakashi, who's pretty cool and has a copy of every Icha-icha in print. We met THE Jiraiya of the sannin. Hokage-sama, of course. We've met the Naras. And by the way. Don't challenge them to shogi. I don't know how they do it, but they beat me every damn time. Even that brat Shikamaru."

"He is a bit bratty, isn't he," I tease, grinning.

"Met the Yamanakas. They're kind of people watchers, like Kamaoshi. So they tend to like picking apart everything I say. But Ino's cute, so I don't mind too much. I met the Akimichis. Gods, dad, you've got to try Remi-san's stir fry! I thought I was gonna die from eating so much!"

I roll my eyes. "He barely handled seconds. And I had to finish it for him. The lightweight."

"The Harunos are pretty cool, too. They're really into clothing and fashion. They even have their own clothing store chain, with a branch in every major city in the Land of Fire! I met the Hyuugas, too. I let Kamaoshi do the talking, though. Hey, did you know that Aya-chan's girlfriend is a Hyuuga?"

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, my boy."

"Oh hell yeah. I had drinks last night with a bunch of the guys by the Naras. I even plan on hitting the blacksmith with Hitomi later. She said something about needing more ninja wire, but I think she just likes going there."

"Alright, motor mouth. Breathe," Kamaoshi teases. "You ignore the possibility you won't be allowed to purchase anything martial related while here. We're not from Konoha, after all?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," I say, raising a finger. "If you go with a shinobi from Konoha to vouch for you, it won't be a problem. And he's going with a jounin?"

"I knew she was top notch!" Takanatsu brags. "Dad, seriously. You should come down here! Aya-chan's even taking Kama-kun to check out the refugees, so he can talk to them directly."

"Don't make it more than it is, Taka. I'm taking him to where they're staying, and I'm introducing him to the key players there. If he wants to stay and chat, he may. If he doesn't, we leave."

"That's what I said. You know, for a brunette, you're pretty blonde."

"I'll have to tell Ino you think so."

"Kamaoshi," Mifune derails us. "How went the marriage talks with Taira?"

"Poorly. They are willing to offer Koshiro his promised bride, but only if he dons their brand and moves to Hamatsu. Truthfully, I suspect they want our hidden techniques."

"I doubt that. Koshiro and his family have never learned them. What do you think, Namiki-sama?"

"That I am biased against them. I would only focus on the negative, and plausibly taint any decision you might make. So here are some facts, as I understand them. They offered him a bride, but he must join them to collect. That weakens you by one person. He knows no hidden techniques, so your secrets are yours to keep. You gain and lose nothing. It could strengthen your alliance with them, that's a gain. And it opens the doors for more in the future, another gain. I do not know the weight you place on each, so I dare not say how these stack up. But that is my view, if negating Konoha and the Land of Fire entirely. What I think should concern you more, is their perception of your sons coming with me when trouble started. Though I do not fault you, they might."

"Yes, they were most irritable about that. No matter how I argued that I didn't want to cause them more trouble, since you came calling on our account."

"I agree. That is how we view it as well. Now, as I see their stance. It could be they wanted more time to negotiate, and Konoha stole that from them. To counter this, it might be wise to ask if sending another ambassador later in the year is agreeable. It could also be that they fear you cast them aside in favour of the Land of Fire and her samurai clans, but another face-to-face meeting, along with discussing the matter with Koshiro to ascertain his interest in marrying into their clan, would alleviate that. Then there is also the perceived loss of face. That they invited you, and you invited what they see as trouble. I'm not so fluent in your customs to know how to alleviate that."

"What would you suggest?"

"Honestly, I would tell them the truth. You chose to remove your sons from a volatile situation, as any father would, and deliberately ordered me not to spill so much as a drop of blood. Thereby both mitigating the threat you supposedly invited, and valuing their wellbeing in equal standing to that of your sons.

"Should they still be unconvinced, offer to negotiate with Konoha on their behalf, that we should be given the bill of all property damages. They'll inflate it considerably, of course, but that would be our problem. This means the Taira can honestly say that they made us pay, regaining face before their lord, and they would have you to thank for it.

"Moreover, if you add that you will be coming to a meeting to discuss this _treacherous_ act with the Fire Lord himself, it would be even more of a boost to their lord. It would directly broker my _punishment_ , with you as their advocate. All the while, you gain their favour, gain face with the Land of Rice Patties, the Land of Fire, and potentially the Land of Water. Which, of course, puts you in a far stronger position.

"I'd say that's a win-win for you, though I would be cautious about inviting them to the meeting, or discussing the matter with Tetsuhiko-san directly. He will just be snide about it and say something along the lines of me not killing anyone when he was prepared to have me kill them all."

"You… don't say." He doesn't like the sound of that. An advisor so openly admitting I could tear through a daimyo's guard—elite or otherwise—isn't the norm, no matter the guard I bring with me.

"Tetsuhiko knows me, Mifune-sama. He knows that me bringing my pups into any situation shows trust on my part. And to a Namiki, Rice Patties pissed on that trust. He was probably so amazed that I called for official support that he couldn't say anything but 'get home in one piece'. And he was stunned to silence when I told him I agreed to your terms of spilling no blood."

"Kamaoshi. Would you say the Namikis could have won such a fight?"

"Without a scratch, father. And I get the impression they show but a sliver of their true skill."

"You don't say." He sounds impressed. "Do they fall prey to the usual pitfalls?"

"Handseals. No, not at all. What little they showed, no handseals were used. And more importantly, father, I've sparred with some of Aya-sama's guards. The same ones she calls little wolves, the same ones she protects until they are strong enough. And they each bested me."

"To be fair, Kama-kun. You are a bit slow. And your form is sloppy once you're not in your comfort zone. You might want to consider lowering your shoulder more in your battou-jutsu stance as well. You keep treating those attacks as toys, when really they are meant to be brutal. And don't get me started on how stiff you are with your tessen katas. You looked like you needed to fart but kept holding it in."

"Well, my boy. Everything I've been telling you for the last decade, condensed in two minutes." Ouch. "Namiki-sama, I will do as you suggest. I will make arrangements to come to Konoha, and I would ask that you host myself and my sons until after the meetings have convened."

"It would be my pleasure."

"In addition, I would ask that you train my sons while they are there."

"That might be a problem."

"I see." He's disappointed, though he hides it well.

"I am not teaching them hidden jutsus of my clan. I am not teaching them my jutsu repertoire, either. But. If it's just weapons and tossing sparring partners at them now and again? That I can do."

"That is precisely what I had in mind, My Lady, I assure you. Though, I must admit that makes me curious as well. Your weapons training isn't your main focus?"

"Far from it. I'm more into medical jutsu, illusions, and the sealing arts. I'm a support kunoichi, and retired to boot."

"I'm sorry. You expect me to believe that a support kunoichi could best my son in her weakest skill? And Sarutobi-sama allowed you to retire?"

"To be fair, he didn't let me. He's been fighting it tooth and nail. But alas, I am quite close to Tetsuhiko-san, so…" As if on cue, Hokage-dono sighs, shaking his head in annoyance.

"I wanted her in Anbu, our special forces. Frankly, she's the first Namiki to not even consider it. No matter that she's been a constant headache from the time she started reporting to me."

"I have daughters, Sarutobi-sama. It isn't much different with them." The Saromi brothers chuckle, sharing a look and likely thinking back on their sisters. "Oh. Namiki-sama. I have a request as well. Anzou's younger brother, Yoshitoshi. He, too is in need of a bride. Is there any of your clan you would offer for such an opportunity?"

"Sorry, Mifune-sama. Though we have a few singles, we don't get into that. A Namiki chooses their mate. All the pack gets to do is approve or not."

"You don't say. What if he were to earn her hand?"

"Then I have nothing to say. I don't know him though, and he would have to prove himself to the pack. Though I warn you in advance, if the one he chooses decides to stay, I will never argue that he or she should return with him to Three Wolves."

"I fear we are at an impasse, My Lord and Lady. I would never abandon mother or my sisters. Let alone that father already signed a marriage contract with Tsuki-san's parents."

"I see. And are you interested in marrying Tsuki?" Mifune asks, obviously valuing a marriage into my clan more than an already signed marriage contract in his own—I'm not sure how to feel about that.

"She is an honourable woman, and I believe she will make a faithful wife." That's a no. Okay, so I respect Mifune's stance.

"You purposely sidestep my question. Are you interested in marrying her, or do you see this as the hand fate dealt you?"

"…" The pup getting his nose rubbed into his own urine look, it ill suits him.

"I thought so. So here's what I'll do. I'll have Koshiro escort your mother and sisters to Konoha with me. This way, you may take your time to decide while still providing for your family as you always have."

The most curious thing, his reaction to that. His brother escorting them—he was ready to blow a fuse. Having his sisters and mother in Konoha—he was ready to break out singing. And all this under the veneer of an emotionless mask that he thinks I cannot see through.

"Or would you have me bring Tuski as well?"

"It would seem most pertinent not to pass her over simply because I am offered another choice. It would dishonour her, would it not?"

"Very well. Tsuki will be asked to join us as well. Lady Namiki, would you be able to make arrangements for a group of say… twenty?"

"Sure. When can we expect you?"

"I'll wrap up my current dealings in the next two days. From there it's two and a half weeks to Konoha? Two if the weather cooperates."

Hmm. He's itching for this Yoshitoshi to marry into my clan—an age old tradition and token to forge alliances. I don't know him, and I don't trust him. But… "Very well. Would you find it acceptable if I were to train Yoshitoshi as well? After all, you do so hope he finds love within my clan, and it might well do him some good if I approve of him before he attempts as much."

"That is ideal, My Lady. I was hoping to discuss as much when I arrived." Never assume a Namiki leaves anything out that isn't bait, Mifune. We are related to the Uzumakis, after all.

"You are, of course, aware that I become protective of those I train? And that I would take it as a personal insult if anyone were to so much as attempt to harm them, whether I am present to witness or not?" Yoshitoshi's eyes widen, as if he cannot believe what he's hearing.

"It is most prudent to inform me of such, though I cannot imagine such a warning being warranted?" There's suspicion in Mifune's tone, and caution in Yoshitoshi's eyes.

"Ensure that this Koshiro hears it all the same. And add the obvious extension to the sisters and mother. If I so much as _smell_ distress on them and deduce he is the cause, I fear you will all see just how protective an alpha she-wolf is over her little wolves." And given I know he's heard the tales of our transformation and the havoc we wreak? I'm sure he understands just how real a threat that is.

"I see," he breathes in relief. "I will do so, My Lady. Until we meet." The line goes dead.

Okichi lets loose and almost sniffed sigh, like she wants to cry but doesn't quite have the motivation just yet. I carefully take her out of her confinement, laying her against my chest. I smile and shake my head as her little fingers grab the material of my shirt, like she wants to tell me not to put her back down.

Reika seals the maxi-cosy away, her eyes already asking me if there's something I need. "Thank you, sweetie. Come, let's get Okichi home. And you six should come with us. Training starts now."

"My Lady." Masashige and Asako bow low, opening the door for us. I plop down onto my feet, rubbing Okichi's little back to help her stay calm, and head out, only to find six little wolves guarding the door. They bow to me, leading the way and ensuring no one is stupid enough to come near my baby—they're saving so many lives.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Arriving in our street, I stop halfway down, in front of an open gate—the house's front door is also already open. "Mi's inside." A howl rings out—she's calling all our little wolves for training, and damn, do they all come running. Young and old, powerful and meek. Everyone of our clan heads in there for training. Everyone but Reika and I. "Don't you want to join them?"

"I would love to, milady. But…" she trails off, her eyes flicking to the umbrella she holds to keep the sun off Okichi and me.

"Sumi?" Masashige calls out to one of the little wolves. Unlike the others making a mad dash towards Mi, she is walking down the street, a forlorn look in her eyes. "Aren't you coming to train?"

"I can't, Masashige-sama. I…" she trails off, her eyes on her sandals. I sniff. Pregnant.

"Could you be my assistant while Reika trains?" I ask, grateful the solution presents itself—after all, everyone would have a fit if I don't have someone near me at every minute of every day. I could stomp my toe! Or get dust in my eye!

"I would be honoured, My Lady, but… are you certain? I am not skilful, nor may I use my chakra."

"I need a hand to open doors and a willing ear to complain to. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Come." She comes, hesitant and nervous, but she comes all the same. She carefully takes the umbrella from Reika, who bows and almost drags the Saromis to our training site—Mi's pet project, I don't doubt. "It's alright, come in closer and take a step forward so you can see if Okichi's in the shade."

She smells of distress, but she does as I ask. "There. See, isn't Okichi just adorable?"

"She is, My Lady," she agrees, her tone almost longing. We start walking, down to the end of the street to our den.

"Is this your first?"

"It is, My Lady."

"I'm sorry I won't be much help. But we can trade stories in time." I bite my thumb, carefully swiping the blood on the seal. She pushes the gate open once it pops and she enters ahead of me—good, I had to order Reika to walk ahead the first time.

Once inside, we take off our outside slippers and head in barefoot—the umbrella gets stowed in the bucket-thing we have set up just for that. She carefully opens every door ahead of me, and closes it behind me as we make our way up to my bedroom.

I carefully lay my baby Okichi in her crib and tu—

"Mmmmmmm… aaah…" Don't wake up, don't wake up, don't wake up. "Aaah! Uuh! Aaah!" Shit.

"I honestly don't know why we have a crib. She hates sleeping in it," I complain, rubbing her tummy to calm her down. Sumi comes, winding up the carousel. Twinkle, twinkle starts playing. Little violet eyes peer up, squinting as if accusing me of waking her up. Tears well up, even as I wrap her in her blanket. And her little wails only get louder.

"Shhh shhhh shhh shhh. It's alright, Kichi. Mommy's here. Mommy's right here." No matter what I try, she isn't impressed. Fuck it. I just wanna sleep.

I scoop her back up. She quiets, but her accusatory grumbling tells me she still blames me for waking her up. How _dare_ I try to put her down? She grabs my shirt, rubbing her nose against me as she heaves as sigh. All I can do is roll my eyes.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Hey, love," Mi comes in smelling of a fresh shower. She spies us on our bed, Okichi fast asleep on my chest with two fistfuls of my shirt to show I'm not going anywhere. "You're going to spoil her, you know."

"I'm conserving my sanity. She refuses to sleep in her crib, so we both slept here." She chuckles, shaking her head in amusement. "And momma already warned me that's how Namiki babies are, so there isn't a whole lot to do about it."

"Softie."

"I got two whole hours of sleep. I call that efficiency."

"Maybe. So, anyway. Reika updated me on the Yoshitoshi situation. I have Masashige and Asako working him in while the others are sparring. I don't want them learning those tessen katas, though. Not even Yoshitoshi. _If_ he gets accepted into the clan, I'll reconsider."

"That's your call to make, and I'm fine with it," I assure her. "I'm actually amazed you're putting him through chakra trainings."

She crawls into bed, lying beside me. She starts scooping Okichi up, carefully untangling her little fingers from my now rumpled shirt. The annoyed grumblings say it all—baby doesn't like that. Still, Okichi should be as comfortable with Mi as she is with me, so I hum a lullaby to lull her back to sleep as Mi lays our baby on her chest.

Okichi lets out a sniffled sigh, checking the new scent. She cracks her eyes open, the lazy violet orbs out of focus. I snuggle up to Mi, kissing Okichi just as she lets loose a lion's yawn. Gentle little breaths soon follow—she's asleep again.

"So you'll let me decide what trainings Yoshitoshi can follow?"

"I was going to discuss that with you tonight. I suggested it more to gauge his personality than to make him stronger. Reika told you about Mifune's request to marry him into our clan?" She nods. "That's my sole motivation. Get to know him, find out how he ticks. And if he's a good man, introduce him to any singles we have. It's on him to earn their trust and win their heart."

"Alright. I can work with that. I'm assigning Sumi to you, by the way. She needs to see she's valued even while she cannot train, and it gives Reika the leeway to come train more often without the fear of leaving you alone."

"That's fair. I need more blank scrolls. I'm tracking the new Sound jutsus Hatake's been helping me with. And I want to teach them to you so you can teach your team."

"You'll have them in the morning. We have another expecting wolf. Sumi's elder sister, Rieko. Would you find me a nag if I assign her to you as well?"

"Not at all. But I want their husbands assigned to you, then. You need to start taking your role in the clan seriously."

"Masashige said much the same thing. Alright, but their traditions dictate only the head can assign honour guards."

"Then we will have to teach them that our pack has two alphas."

"Aww," she coos, leaning in for a kiss. I reach up to meet her halfway, the gentle kiss we share soothes me in a way that our cuddling doesn't—knowing that she still things I'm beautiful, even though I look like hell these days. "I can't believe how lucky I am."

"Smooth talker."

"I mean it, love." I kiss her again, just for that. "You've now officially give me everything I've ever wanted. Including everything I didn't know I wanted until I got it."

"Uh huh." I play like I don't believe her, kissing her again. Fact is, I need this. I've spent my last days getting less and less sleep, so I look like shit. I've changes so many diapers that I'm starting to feel like shit molecules are grafted onto my skin, and especially in my nose. And as absolute adorable as Okichi is, as much I love her and would do anything for her, she's as intellectually stimulating as a doll. So, please don't stop. Tell me the things I need to hear, Mi. Tell me I am more than the hands that wash our baby, that I am more than the breasts that feed her. That I am still the best thing that ever happened to you.

She does me one better. She gives me that look. The look that makes me feel beautiful, that tells me I am worth protecting, that I shows me that I mean the world to her.

"I'm serious. I have the most beautiful girlfriend." I kiss her, needier this time. "Who loves cooking everything I love to eat." She kisses me this time, to show how much that means to her. "Who saved me from the Hyuugas." She kisses me again, nibbling on my lower lip. "Who freed me from the bonds of slavery." Her kiss is so hot this time, that my body heats up to match. She grabs my butt, massaging the spot at the base that turns me on most. "Who loves me so much, that she let me register as our baby's father, letting everyone in Konoha know that we now have a child together."

"As long as you take responsibility," I remind her.

The emotions within her swell, shining through her eyes and in her glowing smile. How safe she feels with me. How fulfilled she is with a family that adores her. How her ever deepening need to be with me matches mine for her. She wears it all on her sleeve, just for me.

"I you, Aya."

"And I you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I stand in our back yard, Hatake looming behind me as he inspects the damage of my Sound Ball on the rock wall he just regurgitated.

For a jutsu no bigger than a sweet pea, it leaves a gaping hole two metres wide that goes clean through the wall.

What did I expect, though? With Hatake helping me hone my Sound Release jutsus, and Jiraiya throwing hints now and again of how to overpower the damn thing to the point of absurdity. There's little to be done but accept that this jutsu is now perfect.

"I want to check something. Do it again?" Hatake asks, pulling up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. I snap, creating another Sound Ball, and toss the coalescence of chakra at the wall, leaving but a blur in its wake. When the ball explodes, releasing a concentrated maelstrom of chakra ripping through it going every direction at once, darkness tries to claim me once again.

I drop to my knee, gasping for breath.

"So that's it. You keep a link between you and the jutsu until it explodes."

"Fuck." That takes a lot out of me. With all the changes and suggestions, this jutsu takes so much out of me that I can only do three. I force myself to my feet, wobbling as the world sways around me.

Two hands grab my shoulders—Misato and Keiko. I smile, trying to thank them. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Keiko chides, a smile in her tone. "But I think you need to rest. Okichi-chan should be waking up soon."

I right my glasses, looking over to the porch. Mi sits there with Okichi sleeping on her chest. She maintains a privacy jutsu, so Okichi won't get scared. And yet, her gaze lingers on me.

I heave a sigh, glad my hour long training session is at an end. Hatake is a demanding trainer.

…

That's new.

"Misato?"

"She started it," she defends, blushing furiously. Misato and Michiko—and Misato smells too strongly of her, even now. They didn't just have their tumble in the sheets, they spent the night together. Interesting.

"You, too?" Keiko gushes, sniffing her little sister at last. "Zeitou's being a complete ass, though. He refuses to so much as kiss me."

"Huh?" That makes no sense. The same Zeitou that wanted to bed every willing female in Konoha, is turning down a willing lover?

"He wants to talk to dad first."

"Ah." That at least makes sense. I was worried passing out so often is starting to take a toll. "I'll deal with him."

"Thanks, but no. I can handle him." I grin, liking the sound of that. "Now come on. You need to get cleaned up."

"Oh, Aya?" I loll my head to one side, trying to look at him with what little energy I have left. "I'm taking Team Seven on a C-Rank. We should be gone for two weeks, maybe a little longer."

"Alright. I'll keep your darling busy so she doesn't miss you too much."

"A… ah."

"Psh. If you had your way, everyone would be married in the next six months," Keiko teases, grabbing me by my waist and slinging my arm over her shoulder.

"Me especially." Why deny it? It's true, and frankly Mi coming into my life changed me for the better—why wouldn't I wish that for everyone around me?

"Look who's here, Kichi-chan," Mi coos, obviously having dropped the privacy jutsu. "It's mommy! Hi mommy."

"It's alright, Keiko." I slump my arm from around her, dropping it down as I force my legs to carry me to the edge of the porch. I drop onto the hard wood, onto my side and plop my head in Mi's lap.

One hour with Hatake is harder on me than six hours of full-tilt taijutsu training, but I have enough left to lay here.

"Unnn!" Okichi gurgles. I can tell she knows I'm here. Mi carefully lays her on my chest, before propping me up and lodging me between her breasts. She helps me prop up my legs, and we carefully transfer Okichi so her butt is against my tummy and her back is against my thighs.

"Hey, baby. Did you enjoy your social time with momma?" I coo. Okichi goes nuts, hearing the sound of my voice. "You did? I'm glad. Because I want you to drive her just as crazy as you drive me."

"Ouch," Mi acts all hurt. "Don't listen to her, baby. You and momma are gonna be thick as thieves. Isn't that right?" Okichi spits up a bit, the clear liquid dribbling down her lips to her little chin.

"Ha," I tease, taking Okichi's bib and wiping her mouth clean.

"Correlation, not causation. Isn't that right, princess? You'll always be momma's little girl, right?" Okichi starts grumbling and working her tongue as she kicks her little feet and her hands shivering, obviously she's about to start crying because she wants a warm meal. "See. Another thing we have in common. We both like getting you undressed."

"That's true," I concede. "Take me inside?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. I could have sworn you just said that you want a group of Taira clansmen to come to Konoha to meet with your sons, and you want me to host the meeting." Or more accurately, this is your chance to change your fucking mind before I hang up.

"No, Lady Namiki, you heard me correctly."

"And the reason I would consider such an endeavour?"

"Because they hate the idea more than you do."

"Huh?"

"Consider the following, My Lady. They see you calling for official support from your daimyo. They listen to you discussing the ramifications with your Hokage, and suggesting how you are going to handle the repercussions of an event not yet taken place. Then you call me, and only then is spilling no blood even an option. You get your people out before they can properly react, killing no one, as was promised. And you escape the city without further incident. Then, you lose their trackers with seemingly no effort. They find a trail purely by spreading out so far that their battalion of three hundred must fragment into pairs, which leads them to your mother's bloodbath outside of Panazou village, a known shinobi hotspot with reputable warriors and questionable practices."

"Thanks, but I was there. Get to the part where I want to be near these people."

"They were trembling when I suggested as much, My Lady. They fear you and what you and yours are capable of."

"That's nice. But it doesn't answer my question."

"Think of it this way." I'd rather not. "What do you think would happen if the damiyo of Rice Patties were to declare war on the Land of Fire, and each of his elite guards baulks at the very prospect?"

Hmm. He does have a point. If the strongest among you is about ready to piss themselves, then it isn't likely that the declared war will happen. "I am not going anywhere without my baby. Do you really think it wise to put a Namiki mother… no, two Namiki mothers and a Namiki grandmother in the same room with people I've already had undesirable dealings with?"

"To be frank, yes. You'll be upset, and likely to snap at them for the littlest thing. Moreover, all present will be almost overbearingly protective of you. What do you think they will make of a woman who could slaughter their elites, and who is surrounded at all times by those who would behead them at the slightest provocation?"

"You mean to cow them. To make them more malleable."

"Ye~ees, quite right, My Lady. That is exactly what I want."

"And you will deal with them personally, and all that is required of me is my presence?"

"That's correct."

"Am I rubbing off on you?"

He laughs. "No, but you are growing on me. Is this agreeable?"

I look to Mi and momma. They share a look and shrug. "It's not like anyone will be surprised if I kill anyone in that situation," momma points out. Mifune coughs, trying to mask his oncoming cackle fit.

"I'll be beside you the whole time?" Mi asks, rocking Okichi gently.

"Of course you will be. Where else would I want you?"

"Then I'm okay with it. But I want Masashige with us. And my team. And Keiko and Misato. And I'll see if Shikaku-san can come."

"Keep it up and you'll ask Hatake as well."

"Good point. Sensei, if you don't mind holding Okichi?" I blink. She carefully transfers my baby to momma, and she heads out to arrange even more back up. I guess I'm just not threat enough for her.

"Mifune. I think you're getting more than you bargained for. She's protective of me. So odds of not having half of Konoha is growing smaller by the second."

"Yeah, the legendary half, too," momma agrees, chuckling. "If Shikaku-san is going to be there, you know he'll ask his buddies."

"Then I'm getting precisely what I was hoping for, My Lady. I look forward to meeting you and yours." The line goes dead.

I roll my eyes. "So anyway. How's your get pregnant quick scheme coming?" Momma laughs, surprising Okichi. She scrunches up her face, ready to cry.

"Oh, oh oh oh oh. It's okay, baby. Grandmomma's just laughing." Momma smiles bright for my baby, for her granddaughter. When that doesn't work, she eases her up onto her chest, and lays my baby's little head against her. "I swear, she's going to end up just like you."

"Take that back."

"Not a chance. You were adorable."

"I was a terror."

"Well… an adorable terror. Besides, you hated fighting. So just teach her medic jutsu and she'll be fine."

"Uh uh. Every Namiki learns to fight. Hate it or don't, she'll need it. But she'll decide for herself if she wants to join the academy."

"That works. So she still giving you horrors about putting her in her crib?"

I snort, shaking my head. "I don't know why we still have it in our room. It's never gonna get used." She laughs, a reminiscing smile taking her over.

"I warned you about that." The door swings open.

"Hey, momma. Can I hold her?" Hoshie begs, tears in her eyes.

"Of course!" I agree, before momma starts fretting about anything. We sit Hoshie down, and I start explaining to her what she needs to pay attention to.

Momma carefully transfers Okichi to her auntie, and I help Hoshie hold her just right, being especially careful with her head.

Hoshie looks about ready to cry, holding her niece for the first time. "There, see? Nothing to it."

"Aah! Uuh! Aah! Uuh! Aah!" Milk flows to match.

"Shit. Sorry, Shie. Mealtime."

"It's okay," she assures me, seemingly not minding that I take Okichi back so quickly.

Once I have her secure in my arms, I start unbuttoning my shirt. "So, Shie. I haven't seen you around much. You're training hard, right?"

"Of course!" Okichi latches on, so I sit down and get comfortable.

"Good. Momma, you mind teaching her how to unlock her chakra? I want to teach her Sound Release?"

"Wait, really?"

"Of course. You'll be learning right alongside her." They share a look, their rakish and mischievous grins matching perfectly. "Hey. You're Namikis. There's no way I'm letting either of you be anything less than badass."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

I enter my bedroom, but Mi isn't there. Curious, I sniff. Hmm. Downstairs. I head back down, finding her in my office. She's going over the Sound Release jutsus scrolls, my genjutsu scrolls also opened and set aside.

Okichi is quite happily sleeping in her arms, not minding that her momma is studying the most exquisite ways I can think of to torture and kill people.

"Hey," I say, not fighting the smile. "Looks like someone's finally taking her position seriously."

"Kakashi-san's been helping me learn. I figure you have your hands full."

"I do, but it's nice to know you're not letting your training slip for it." I stand here for a moment, drinking them in. Seeing how comfortable Mi is holding our baby, how comfortable Kichi is being held by her momma. It… it soothes me. Knowing that if I'm short-circuiting, I can ask her to take Okichi, if just for an hour so I can take a nap.

"Love, why don't you take a nap? You should at least be able to get an hour in while she's sleeping." She looks up from the scroll, her eyes drinking me in just as mine with her. "I really don't mind. And she's comfy right where she is."

"I think I will," I murmur, but I go to her for a little love all the same. We kiss. Once. Twice… Enough times so I have her taste on my lips as I sleep. "I you."

"And I you. I'll come get you if anything."

"Thanks." I kiss her again. But I really do need a nap. Okichi has the damnedest habit of thinking two AM is a great time to be social.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 34_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying the curious mix making up Aya these days. Next up, we get to Aya organizing things.  
_**


	35. That's my girl

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 35 – That's my girl_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Keep in mind that these genjutsus are too dangerous to practice on others with," I remind them, sitting seiza in our dojo. Team Hitomi are too busy drooling over the possibilities as I offer each a scroll detailing six B-Rank genjutsus—Icy Heatstroke, Short-Circuit, three paralysis jutsus, and Tree Bind Death.

"We will," Chiko promises taking the scroll and already rolling it open to start reading.

"Ah ah," I chide with a playful lilt. I take out three seals, meant to test if the genjutsu was cast correctly, just like the one Mi gave me. "If you cast it right, the seal glows white. If not, it glows red. It isn't mastered until you can cast it seallessly." They share a look, each grinning goofier than the next. They swear high and low that they'll make me proud, and all the good stuff.

"Now, Tsuji, Atsu. You two are still working your way up. No shame in it, but also no reason not to help you along." I off them each a scroll, detailing ten C-Rank genjutsus, along with the same seals to practice on. "These aren't pleasant to suffer through, but are less likely to kill you. Once you've mastered the water-walking skill, we can talk about you trying your hand at B-Ranks."

"We won't let you down, Aya-sama," Tsuji promises, grinning.

"You never have," I say, smiling. "Now, little wolves. You have almost no experience with genjutsus, and that's what you're here to learn. The first one I'll teach you is Soothing Touch. It's the only nice one I know, so it's not a bad idea to practice on each other. I want you to partner up. One will cast the genjutsu, the other will try to dispel it. So we're working on both for the next hour."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Eight medics in training, each doing Flying Tiger push-ups in our dojo. Sweat pours down them, like little rivers unable to deny gravity. No matter that they're tired, they refuse to stop, refuse to give up. Grunts of exertion echo off the wooden walls, feeding the swelling pride within me.

"Alright, break," I announce, lowering myself onto my feet and standing up. They're quick to follow suit. "Very good, little wolves," I praise, beaming at them.

I give them a moment to feel proud they kept up with me for the last hour and a half, before nodding to Sumi and Rieko to start handing out the scrolls—they aren't allowed to train, but they've been studying chakra theory while we were busy.

"I want all of you practicing the Diagnostic Jutsu over the coming days. I've made arrangements with Hana-nee, she'll be giving us lessons. Two hour classes, once a week. The first class will be Saturday evening. I want you each to continue studying the books in our library. If you have any questions, I'm in the library every morning from eight to ten. Come to me. I will never turn my pack away."

Reika comes to me, hugging me tight, thanking me over and over. As tired, as sweaty, as she is, she's more proud than anything. Kana and Satoko aren't any less grateful, though they are too tired to do anything but plop onto the ground and stare at the ceiling.

"Rest up until dinner. And do not forget to stretch before going to bed, and after waking up. Otherwise, you'll hate me for days." All I get is groans to show they heard me. Still, they'll either stretch, or they'll regret not listening.

With my workout handled, I walk over to momma. "How's mommy's baby doing?" Okichi is sleeping against her tummy. She'll no doubt wake up soon, and if she holds true to her habits, she'll be in a social mood again.

Momma chuckles, her eyes lighting up as her wild, black hair shivers. "Hasn't made a peep." I lean over her, spying closed eyes and an angelic sleeping face. "Why don't you go wash up? She's fine right where she is."

"Alright. Make sure you come get me if she wakes up."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

There are times I question my own sanity. Sitting to my desk, in my office, staring at the impressive stack of paperwork poppa brings in for me, I find myself in just such a time. As if I don't have enough to do, enough people to train, my own training to see to.

"I've already filled them in. All I need is your signature and they can be brought to the Tower for processing."

"Thank you, poppa," I coo, beaming at him. I really need to do something nice for him—he's been a godsend when it comes to paperwork and all the crap I have zero patience for.

"Don't thank me yet," he says, his eyes hard for some reason.

"Poppa?"

"Operative Cat was just here. Hokage-sama needs a word with you." My eyes narrow. "Privately." I frown. "He's asked you to come over later for drinks, but won't say what this is about. Only asking that you and Shimura be present."

"I see."

I pick up the phone, dialling Sarutobi's number. "You have sixty seconds. Make it good," I say, pressing the receiver against my shoulder as I switch Okichi to my other breast.

"I cannot discuss details now," he says, blowing his pipe. It's two in the afternoon, and he's already smoking?

"You will, or you get nothing from me," I warn. I know this is big, it would have to be if he plans on getting Shimura and me in the same room—not that I could ever convince Mi, or anyone really, to let me attend… not that I'm interested, but still.

"I cannot. For this one time—"

"Thirty seconds," I drawl, shortening the timer without a care. A sigh tells me all I need to know. Good boy.

"Kakashi found something Konoha needs," he says, more cryptic than he's ever been. "Something even Danzo and you will agree needs protecting."

A private meeting, between Shimura—who houses an army illegally—and me. To protect something Konoha needs? "Something? Or someone?"

"Hnn," he noises, a smile obvious in his tone. "The meeting should take no more than twenty minutes. In my home. Tonight. I'm expecting you at seven thirty. Bring no more than two guards."

The line goes dead.

"Reika." I lay the phone down. "I need momma and Hitomi in here. Now."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Daddy, Hatake, auntie Tsume, momma, and Mi walk into my office at the stroke of eight. They all look like they've seen a ghost.

"Her name is Senju Rinka," Mi begins, her eyes begging me to help. "She turns sixteen soon."

So. We're looking at a Senju of marriageable age. He wants me to keep the vultures off her so she doesn't run for the hills. "And what did he say he wants?" I ask.

"For the Namiki clan to take her." There's a surprise.

Okichi's asleep, but I've a rather upsetting call to make. "Mi. Take her for a minute?"

She comes around the desk, scooping me up instead. She takes my seat, and eases me onto her lap so Okichi doesn't wake. I flick her nose, annoyed with her, but take my phone all the same, and dial Shimura's number—never thought I'd ever call him.

"Namiki," he answers, already knowing why this conversation has to happen. "I have no intention of harming her. Konoha needs the Senju clan to grow strong again."

"Are you calling me an idiot?"

"What is it you think I intend to do?" he cuts right to the chase.

"Do you really think I cannot predict your next move, Shimura?" Everyone looks nervous, even Mi's grip on me becomes a bit much.

"And what move can I execute without the army I once commanded?" he tries.

"Here's how this is going to play out. You are going to back off from this. And you are going to keep to your little corner, licking your wounds."

"You think me cowed," he drones.

"You aren't?" I reach into my drawer, taking out a little scroll, unfurling it in front of me. I check the numbers still glowing, finding nearly thirty. "Tell me, Shimura. Which of your agents would you like to lose first?"

"I started this conversation stating plainly that I have no plans for her." You said you wouldn't harm her—not the same thing. I run my fingers over the glowing numbers, checking current locations. Eight are outside of Konoha.

"The eight not in your base. Which of them were sent out after her?"

"None." Bullshit. "They are in Grass, trying to ascertain something of value."

"Yeah. Except they aren't. Two are in The Land of Fangs, currently engaged in combat. Two are sleeping outside the Wave Royal Palace, no doubt trying to figure out how Tazuna's running the country, and how you can use that to your advantage. Two are in Mist, no doubt trying to test the waters of their hidden village. And the last two are most curiously just leaving Konoha, moving south-east. To the Land of Hills, perhaps?"

"What is it you want, Namiki?" Ooh, so we have the team I need dead.

"You to back off. Permanently."

"Their mission is to ensure—"

"And," I channel the needed chakra into their markers, "you just lost them."

Silence. I get nothing but silence. He's checking if I'm bluffing. I check the first five, knowing it'd be one of them he keeps close—seeing as their seals aren't time-triggered.

"That is the famous Yamanaka Fuu beside you. He's using his chakra, no doubt trying to check your team via that curiously forbidden seal you put on them. The fun part, he can't. He senses nothing wrong. Now. Tell him to check the ones you know for a fact are dead, and see what he tells you."

Okichi starts to stir, her little eyes squinting. She isn't fussy, so I know this is her social time. And I'm missing that for this fuckwad.

"Very well, Namiki. You've proven your case."

"If I did, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I will tolerate be no further provocation, and there will be no further warnings." I hang up.

"Good morning, sleepy head. Did you enjoy your nap?" I ask, Shimura's stupidity already forgotten. Okichi yawns, so I tickle her chin with my finger to tease her a little. "You did? And look how everyone's here just in time for Kichi's social time. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Love?"

"That's right, Kichi. Mommy's here, and momma's here, and grandmomma's here, and grandpa's here."

"Aya?" I look up at Mi, just in time for her to steal a kiss. But that isn't enough for her. She picks me up, carrying us up into our room, where she carefully lays me on our bed. She goes and shuts the door, activating the seals to make sure we have privacy, and she activates her Byakugan to make sure of that.

When she's satisfied, she comes to the edge of our bed, and she crawls up and over me, her face hovering mere inches from mine, and her breath kissing me.

"Namiki Aya."

"Nn?" I noise, amused with her dramatics.

She runs her nose up against mine to nudge my glasses up properly so I can see her. So I can see the yearning in her eyes, the way she nervously bites her lip, how she blushes.

Is she…?

"I want to be selfish tonight." She kisses me. I frown—I hoped this was her popping the question. "I want you and Okichi for myself." She kisses me again, kissing Okichi's temple as she pulls back this time. She drops down beside me, carefully taking our daughter and laying her on her chest. Once the dancing and squirming little bundle of joy grabs onto her shirt, she tugs me to come join them.

"And I want to be selfish tomorrow night. Let's go out. Dinner and a show," she begs.

"I'm not leaving Okichi."

"Of course not. We have a proper theatre right here in the compound. Second house on the left. Their opening play is tomorrow, and I have a table reserved for us. We bring the bouncy buggy for if she's being social, and I arranged that everyone gets their own little table nearby, giving us and Okichi a cosy evening together, while our guards have tables barely a stone's throw away." I claim her lips, needing to show her how moved I am that she's taking care of us so completely.

"Not even Masashige could argue this setup is unsafe, and he's been as paranoid with you and Okichi as I have," she finishes, a little breathless from my stolen kiss.

"Thank you."

"Misato already asked Michiko to go with her. Zeitou already asked Keiko. And Kakashi-san should be back tomorrow. I'll talk to him, see if he can ask Yasu."

"Try to talk to Naruto. Have him ask Hinata. And I'll talk to Reika about her and the other pups getting a table together, where everyone can keep an eye on them."

"Already arranged. Naruto's taking the Hyuuga sisters. Mika asked Zabuza to take her, Haku, and Ao. Ensui's taking Matsumi and their little girl. Shikaku-san is taking Yoshino-san. And I have sensei and Satsuma seated nearest the play room, so they can keep an eye on Hoshie and Kenshin, so they can play to their heart's content."

I kiss her again, the warmth in my chest almost overflowing by now.

"Kakashi-san sent word. We should expect them around noon. So I have a proper escort arranged for us. And I talked to Ensui, he's already taken all the paperwork to the Tower, he put all the stubs in your drawer, where you like them."

I lay my head on her shoulder, looking at little Okichi, her vibrant violet eyes widen as she recognizes me—I'm that close to her. She starts kicking and wriggling, doing a little happy dance now that she has my full attention.

I press a kiss between delicate crimson eyebrows. "We got so lucky, Kichi. Momma takes such good care of us."

"Of course," Mi agrees, rubbing Okichi's little back. "Anything for my girls." I look up at her again, seeing only longing in her pale eyes. She yearns for me, for our baby.

The urge swells within me. I want so badly to ask her to marry me. No more indirect _I'm not against it_ talks. No more waiting for others to bring it up. I want this woman in my life, for the rest of my life.

Laying down on her shoulder again, I drink in our little carrot top, our little miracle. "I you."

She presses a kiss to my brow, her hand tracing up and down my back. "I you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We walk into the Tower around nine. Sarutobi needs a word with me, for some reason, and he won't discuss it over the phone.

So here I am, dressed in the Namiki uniform, my face and hair covered, with Mi at my side, holding Okichi, surrounded by our pack. Even as we pass none other than Shimura himself, all he gets is glares.

We make it to the secretary, who winces at seeing us, already motioning us in—is it how we're all in uniform, or is it the fuck-off clearly stamped on our foreheads as we glare her into an early grave? Masashige opens the door, walking in with Asako to make sure it's safe enough, before giving us an all-clear. As we enter, I sense six little wolves guarding the door to make sure we aren't disturbed.

"I have a busy day, Sarutobi. Make it good," I demand, wondering at his advisors being here as well.

"Very well. I need you to talk to the two Sound Shinobi."

"Oh, that's easy. No," I shoot him down. "I'm not solving your problems."

"All I ask, Aya-chan, is that you hear me out."

"I just did."

"So far, all they've reacted to is you. Not even Ibiki can get more out of them than that. So I propose you meet with them. See what happens."

"Momma. If you want, you can take them." She grins, walking out of the office and closing the door behind her. "I'm not interested in your games, Sarutobi. If you have something like that, talk to momma directly. Don't get me involved."

"Now, A—"

I turn, nodding to Masashige to let him know I'm ready to leave.

"My Lady." He opens the door for me, he and Asako bowing low.

"Aya, please. We need someone with your skills around here."

"The Namiki clan needs me more." I walk right back out of his office, uncaring for his angle or attempt.

Our little wolves are just as ready to take us home as they were to take us here. "Mi? I think it's time."

"As soon as we get you and Okichi home, I'll take them. All of them?"

"All of them. Four blades and a pole arm. Nectar of the kami." Our little wolves look about ready to cream their pants. Asako chief among them. "Take the women, too. They've earned no less respect."

"Goes without saying. Mind if I…?" Go nuts shopping and claim it's for the little wolves?

"That's your call. I'm fine with it." She nods, beaming.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Eleven forty-five finds me at South Gate awaiting Naruto and co. Every little wolf of our pack is here, in uniform, glowing brighter than the sun. I can't help but smile, knowing they form a perimeter around us. Sumi and Rieko are at my sides, both holding an umbrella to keep us out of the sun—not that I need it, I don't show enough skin to warrant needing shade. Okichi contently snoozes the day away, so I won't complain too much.

I'm not entirely sure why my usual morning madness was being handled by someone else—I'm not complaining, but I'm curious. Let alone not having seen hide nor hair of so much as one pup since breakfast. It's not a world-ending event, I've just gotten used to them barging into my office or stalking me at the library.

I have a feeling Mi agreed to that meeting with Sarutobi knowing I'd turn him down, and used it as an excuse to have poppa and Ensui take over my usual duties—one taking the medical questions in the library, and the other taking the errands I had planned. That left me only with seeing to Okichi and taking a nap—again, not complaining.

Though I'm also curious as all hell why we bothered to be on time—Hatake will never show up here on the stroke of twelve. Still, we already have the form to pre-clear Senju. And Reika teamed up with poppa to have all the pups at home playing—though I don't doubt they'll be getting ready for lunch about now.

So mostly I'm here, waiting in the shade, watching Mi and her team just outside the gate. "You both ordered your own blades?" I ask, hoping to strum up some kind of conversation. Waiting is kind of boring like this.

"We have, Milady," Sumi answers, a sense of awe deeper than I can imagine in her tone. "We cannot thank you enough."

"You don't have to," I assure her. I'm not sure if they notice or not, but the Hayashi sisters take a subtle step closer to me, close enough that I feel their warmth . I smile, rubbing Okichi's little back. "Have you already made appointments for checkups?"

"Doctor Inuzuka comes by once a week for us. And your honourable father keeps a proper dossier of all the clan, milady. I assure you, every wolf, little wolf, and pup is being tended to," Rieko says, every bit as awed as her sister was a moment ago.

"Good. And you are, of course, getting all supplements needed?"

"We are. And Lady Yasu arranges meals that cater to our cravings," comes the most comforting assurance yet. I beam, grateful Yasu-nee is so diligent in taking care of our pack. "We've made reservations at the Namiki theatre as well, Milady. I've never been to a play before."

"I hope you enjoy it, then." They both take another little step towards me, their katana and wakizashi worn proudly on their left hip, ready to defend me to their last breath—not that I'll give them the chance.

Hatake's scent reaches me first. He purposely didn't wash-down with his scent removing soap—he wants us to know he's coming, and that he doesn't smell of distress. Not that he'd likely get distressed even if he were surrounded by enemies.

Mi turns to me, smiling and nodding. Her veins bulge to show she activates her Byakugan, no doubt wanting visual confirmation on something. It's not ten minutes later that the group comes into view.

Pinky stands out like an eyesore—as bad as blondie himself. Uchiha is every bit the stoic asshole, though he seems extra asshole-ish, given he escorts a Senju. Hatake is just as laconic as ever, but there's a sense of pride in his sole visible eye that definitely isn't usually there.

It's the second tallest. They say she turns sixteen soon, but she strikes me as just over fourteen. Her curly brown hair is tied into a ponytail, even now reaching past her shoulder blades. And the miko outfit… I'm not sure what to make of that. Mi and her team walk up to her, inclining their heads respectfully.

Rinka's pink eyes show a long-borne annoyance with this treatment, as her hands are waved to show it really isn't needed. Mi says something, motioning for Rinka to come with her. They walk together, the three junior members of Team Hitomi taking up Rinka's flanks, as they walk to the security checkpoint. Team Hatake, of course, just show their faces and walk through, waving Senju off as they head for the tower to report in…

Other than Naruto, of course. Blondie comes, straight to me, nodding to my guards as he ppasses, and kissing Okichi's temple. "I've got so much good news. But I can't now."

"You know where to find me," I say, narrowing my eyes. He's given me a verbal report on every mission to date, so him pointing it out this time. It's… odd—and that means something's different.

Haruno comes to me, for some reason. "Namiki-san? May I pass by later to see Rinka?" My eyebrows almost disappear into my hairline, but it's a fair request.

"Alright." Fuck if I understand how those two ended up being friends. Haruno thanks me, beaming. She and her team disappear with a body flicker—I didn't know pinkie learned it.

"We've already pre-cleared you. Though there is still a mandatory interview at T&I, I assure you, it is only a formality, and we can make arrangements that someone you feel comfortable with can be there with you." Mi tugs at my attention again, so I shake off the mindjob I just got.

"Than… thank you," Rinka says, her voice light and airy. Her gait is as effeminate as her lilt—trained into her, no doubt.

"Think nothing of it. Please, if you could just fill in your name?" Mi is quite eloquent in these situations. I feel a warmth growing in my chest, loving this side of her—and appreciating how deeply I truly affect her, since I usually turn her brains into puree and her confidence into shambles. "Perfect. Please, this way." She motions Rinka our way.

"Senju Rinka, please meet my girlfriend, Namiki Aya, and the head of our clan. I assure you, as long as you do not present yourself as a threat, our little wolves will never harm you."

"Pl… pleased to meet your acquaintance, Lady Namiki." Now that she's closer, her tanned skin is far more noticeable—though righting my glasses helps, too. Her hands are callused, as if she works hard with them, though they are in all the wrong places compared to swordsmen.

I roll my eyes. "I'm not that kind of girl. Just Namiki is fine." She nods, unsure what to make of me just yet. "There will be plenty of time for introductions later. For now, you have an appointment with uncle Inoichi," I remind her, turning to show her the way. "Come."

Mi comes instead, easing in front of me and taking me into her arms. "It's alright, love. You guys head home. I'll bring her by as soon as she gets out." She pulls back, leaning in for a kiss—her boastful little smirk telling me she knows I won't turn her down.

"Alright." Our lips meet briefly, before she leans down further and kisses the wild locks of ruby hair. "Masashige. Could you and Asako go with her?"

"I'd rather they stay with you. I already have my team."

I roll my eyes—she has something planned for me. "How about we bring her home, and call uncle to have the interview held there. She looks like she's tired, and it's lunch time."

"Hmm? That makes sense. What do you think, Rinka?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"From right to left, they are—"

"Left to right," Mi corrects. If I wasn't holding a sleeping child, I'd swat her.

"Moving on. They are Senju Hashirama, the First. Senju Tobirama, the Second. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third and reigning. And Namikaze Minato, the Fourth."

"So that's why…"

"Senju has been synonymous with Konoha since our founding. Which is true for a few clans and families. Including the Uchiha clan. It's probably why that ass is being even more of an ass than usual."

"So that's it. Huh, I thought he was just insufferable."

"He is." She giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. "Anyway. Somewhat more interesting for you to know. The Senju clan and the Uzumaki clan are related. Just as the Uzumaki clan is related to the Namikis, the Hatakes, and the Inuzukas."

"So we're related?"

"I don't know," I admit. "And it's not that interesting for me. Most of my clansmen don't share my blood, but they are my family all the same."

"Is that so…" We continue through the streets, our little wolves carefully carving us a path. "So why don't you want anyone near your daughter?" She no doubt wants to know why Masashige and Asako are between her and Rieko, keeping her well away from Okichi and me.

"To protect them," I explain. "Namikis are wolves. And just as you shouldn't get close to a wolf pup, you shouldn't get close to a Namiki pup. It won't end well."

"It's the same for Hatakes and Inuzukas?" She's not from here. If her cluelessness wasn't enough, her chakra smells too much of rolling hills and windswept the valleys.

"Yes. We may honour our shared heritage differently, but we're one family." We're passing close to the marketplace, so it gets a bit loud. Rinka closes in on herself with all the noise—she clearly hates it, though I can't figure out why.

It isn't a minute later that we're in the loudest part. Okichi starts to stir, already getting fussy. I shift her, carefully setting her against my chest, and try rocking her back to sleep. She doesn't seem to like much noise, but I can't say I'm surprised. Our den is usually quiet—no matter how busy it gets, not even the pups like loud noises.

Crying. I hear crying. I look to Asako, who dashes off towards the sound. Our group stops, though Rinka isn't too happy about stopping this close to the loudest of the noise. It's a few minutes later that my little wolf comes back with a boy barely half her height. His short brown hair sways with each nervous step, and his mournful brown eyes are glued to the pavement.

"My Lady, this is Katsuo. He ran away from the orphanage a week ago."

I nod, understanding that better than most. "How old are you, Katsuo?"

"Six… I'm six, milady." I know the tone well. He speaks as if life had its way with him, like starving in the streets, unknown and unloved, isn't that bad compared to being fed by ungrateful assholes who blame you for everything.

I snort, unamused. He's about the same age I was when I went to Daifu's—or was it the same age I got kicked out—and I hated it there. Granted, I hated it everywhere, but…

"Well, come on then. We're going to have lunch." He looks up at me, his watery eyes wide with disbelief. "What? Are you saying you're not hungry?"

His stomach answers for him, loudly grumbling and whining to show just hungry he is. He wraps his arms around his middle, his face aflame from embarrassment.

"See. You're hungry. Now let's go."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Aya-nee!" "O'nee-sama!" "Milady!" All the pups are at the entrance to greet us. All of them. I turn to Mi, cocking an eyebrow.

"What? They were working on a surprise." I roll my eyes at the non-sequitor. The Hyuuga guards bow low to us—I'm not sure why we still _have_ Hyuuga guards here, but I'm also not trying to figure it out—closing the gate and our little wolves re-engage the security system.

Our pups come rushing, each begging to give Okichi a kiss—only little Ki-chan is missing, he's with momma or poppa, I don't doubt. Once everyone's satisfied—Hoshie decided, as her auntie, she has the right to give her at least three kisses more than the others—I'm escorted into the second house on the… the…

Damn it! I'm holding Okichi, so I can't look at my hands. I assume left, simply because Mi told me the theatre is the second on the left. As we enter, the scent of the whole pack fills my senses. The Yamanakas, the Naras, the Sarutobis, the Akimichis, the Namikis, the Uzumakis, the Yukis. Even the geishas and the servants are all here.

Entering through the front gate, the garden I expected is missing—brilliant time to notice, idiot. In its place is a welcome hall grand enough to hold the whole clan, just this one room. Reika ushers us over to one side, where Mi helps me out of my shinobi sandals and Reika trades them for simple house slippers. I don't bother complaining about being able to do any of that myself—they won't listen, and they'll just argue I'm holding Okichi, so there.

All I do is roll my eyes and shake my head.

"None of that, love. You deserve to get spoiled sometimes," Mi argues, leaning in and kissing my neck. All I can do is sigh. "Are you trying to say I shouldn't spoil you?"

"I haven't said a word."

"Uh huh. Come on." She carefully scoops Okichi out of my arms—baby offers a sniffled sigh, before settling back down, no doubt having recognized Mi's scent. Like nothing's the matter, Mi offers me her elbow, intent on escorting me to our destination. I carefully hug her arm, making sure I'm not pulling her off balance—nothing is worth risking dropping Okichi.

Through large double doors, into a grand hall, Mi doesn't slow for a moment. The stage to one side—right or left, too frazzled to hazard a guess—stands majestically over the open floor covered with tatami mats with row after row of round tables and contoured couches fit for eight. Each row rises three steps above the row nearer the stage. But Mi ignores all of that. Instead, she ushers me further up and to the back, where momma, poppa, mom, daddy, Hoshie, Sakiko, Kenshin, Yasu-nee, Eimi, Tsuji, Atsu, Kana, and Satoko await us. Hoshie and Sakiko are both out of breath, no doubt having raced up here.

This table is larger, fit for a group of twenty with space for more, and no one has their back to the stage. I sniff—or sniffle—trying to take in everyone here. I can't . My brain's fried, so all I can do is offer a watery smile as Mi, Okichi, and I join our group.

Masashige and his family have a table right in front of us. Asako and little Shoutetsu wave to us, before Kasumi gets on their case to sit down properly. Rieko, Sumi, and their husbands have a table to one side of us. Ensui and his family have a table to the other—Michiko and Zeitou sit with them, no wonder they ran off the second we got through the gate.

Let alone the dozens of little wolves with their families seated within a stone's throw from us.

I should ask Mi. I should demand how long she'd been keeping this from me—not that she didn't tell me last night. I was more expecting a sitting room with pillows, not an new fucking building!

Reika takes her seat beside me, unsealing the bouncy buggy and shimmying it over to us. Mi and I work together, setting Okichi into the little seat and carefully strapping her in.

"Mmmmmmm," comes the predictable complaint. Grumpy little violet eyes squint open, accusing us of waking her up. No matter that we tuck her in, no matter that she's warm and surrounded by her pack, that Mi and I each take her tiny little hands and kiss them. She likes our warmth a million times more than she likes her blanket.

So I sing for her. I don't care which song, just the first that comes to mind. I sing steady and clear, kissing her hands and brow every time I pause. Hoshie and Sakiko hum a soft melody to help, and poppa soon joins in.

Reika unseals her shamisen, softly plucking the strings to offer our impromptu performance what it was missing. Our little humming birds tap a beat against the table, our missing percussions are missing no longer.

A mighty yawn escapes Okichi, her eyelids growing heavy once again.

"And can you feel, the love tonight. It is where we are," I continue singing, keeping my voice as soothing as I can. It's but a moment later that soft snores fill my world. She's asleep. She's asleep, and I didn't have to hold her to do it. Baby steps, Aya, baby steps.

"Hello, there. You must be Rinka-chan," mom greets, motioning for her to join us—on the other side of the table. "And… okay, you I don't know."

"His name is Katsuo, you see," I sing, trying to keep to the same rhythm so Okichi can fall into a deep slumber. She still has an hour before her next feeding, so why not let her nap if she's tired.

"O…kay. Well, Katsuo-chan, come on. We don't bite." I smile, shaking my head even as I continue singing for Okichi.

"I didn't know you could sing." I'm not sure what to make of Rinka, or the awe so obviously on display. Everyone can sing, some better than others, but how she said it suggests I sing well—not that I believe her.

"She still tries convincing people she can't. That's why she only sings if she's drunk, or is lulling Okichi to sleep." I roll my eyes, refusing to take mom's bait. "Or if she and Hitomi are in a flirty mood. I swear, Hitomi gets away with murder when it comes to her."

As if she wants to prove her case, Mi pulls down my mask and peels back my hood. She makes sure to arrange them so I won't complain too much, before tugging me into her warmth, idly loosening my braid, and combing her fingers through my hair.

I sigh, letting go of the chaotic morning now officially behind me. Curiously, Okichi does much the same. Leaning into Mi a little more, my singing slows and stops. Reika keeps plucking the strings, though, so Okichi doesn't complain.

She just lays there, motionless, her eyes closed. Her bright red hair is sticks up in every direction, no matter how often I brush it—and there isn't enough to put it into any style. Her little yellow outfit with frolicking grey wolves and dizzied pink butterflies brings a smile to my eyes—I love seeing her in this onesie.

"Love?" Mi murmurs so soft I wonder if anyone but me can hear her.

"Mm?" A yearning gnaws at me, one that grates on me a little more every time Mi offers me every little thing Okichi and I need or want.

"Tetsuhiko. He arrives tomorrow evening."

"I know," I complain, not looking forward to it. I mean, he's a blast to have around, but that means the Three Wolves contingent isn't far behind, and then the meetings, and meeting another daimyo, and the new Mizukage, and a whole lot of crap that may well include not having my baby near me at all times.

"I'm coming. I'm bringing my team with me."

"I know." I try to sound upbeat, knowing Mi will keep us safe and will take care of our every need while she's at it. But…

"I made arrangements already. Sensei is coming to every meeting, as are Ensui, Keiko, and Misato. Masashige will have six little wolves nearby as well. The second you want to leave, you'll have a proper escort to take you home. No explanations, no hassle. You just pick up and go. Agreed?"

I claim her lips, my kiss as steamy as it is needy. She unties my forehead protector, a little thud telling me it winds up on the table. She unzips my flak jacket as well, slipping it down my arms. A moan escapes me, liking how comfortable she is with stripping me wherever and whenever she damn well pleases.

A poof tells me they get sealed, but I can't bring myself to care. All I care for is that Okichi sleeps, and that Mi's warm, callused hands sneak under my shirt and up my lower back, grabbing my naked flesh as she pulls me deeper into her.

I find myself straddling her lap, my arms around her shoulders and my fingers in her hair. I don't know how, I don't care. I'm good right here, with her fingers massaging any and every bit of me they touch, moulding me like I'm putty in her hands.

"You know. It'd be nice if you did that to me sometimes," momma complains. I hear nervous laughter, but I'm too busy enjoying Mi and our moment to care whose it is.

"You'd have me naked in the ladies room in less than a minute," poppa snipes.

"And that's wrong, because…?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"I'm not saying I don't want to hold her. I'm saying I don't want to get you started. You're already on a baby-binge, and every time you smell the pair of us together, I end up on my back," poppa complains. I giggle, loving how they are sometimes.

"You're both in the same space. So holding her isn't going to add much," momma argues. I just shake my head, walking over to the swing and plopping onto it. I wonder at it being so wide—fit for two adults, not so much children as the rest of the playground is set up. "And for the record. It'd be nice if you threw me on the bed and stripped me down."

"It'd also be nice if you didn't wake me up at two in the morning, with your hand in my pants."

"For your information, most guys would kill for a wife like me."

"True. Now stop fretting. Your ovulation starts tomorrow." There's a spike in momma's scent. Obviously she's looking forward to putting in the effort to get pregnant. At least I know where I get it from. "And just so you know, I've made arrangements with Kana. She's minding the kids tonight, all day tomorrow. And Satoko takes over tomorrow night."

"You mean…?"

"I told you not to agree to joining Aya for those meetings."

"It's alright, momma!" I call out, my grin more than obvious. "Mi arranged more than enough backup. Get your groove on!"

Poppa takes Okichi from her, holding her carefully against his chest. Momma just melts, obviously enjoying seeing her husband holding a baby—her being their granddaughter only adds to the emotional value, I don't doubt. "Now, will you please start taking your prenatal supplements? You're supposed to start three months before you even plan on getting pregnant, you know."

Instead of answering, she kisses his neck—more like suckling on it, intent on leaving her mark for all the world to see.

"Hey," Mi calls out from behind me. She sits beside me, facing the other way so I can see her face. "I've been thinking."

"Mm?"

Her cheeks are suddenly aflame, but she meets my curious gaze all the same. "Okichi is eventually going to need a little brother or sister. And it's unhealthy for you to get pregnant so soon," she begins, her arm snaking around my middle.

I bite my lip, trying to mask the glowing smile I feel coming.

"So, I've been talking to a few medics I know, discussing the options."

"Sperm donors?"

"Other than a one night stand, artificial insemination is the only option."

"I'm not sharing you," I tell her explicitly, a growl in my tone. "Ever."

"Ditto," she soothes, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "But, I want our babies to share their heritage. So I've been weighing possible donors that might be up for multiple contributions."

"Tsuji and Atsu," I murmur, knowing she would choose them for their elemental parallels to the Namikis.

"Mm. They've agreed, even going so far as to offer signing a contract that they would hold no parental rights to our babies."

"No need. This is all in-house, so it's no one's concern but ours." She nods, agreeing with me. Another reason she likely approached our clansmen first.

"I was… wondering…?"

Her eyes, the yearning of her heart worn on her sleeve.

"I know it's too soon. I know it'll take convincing Yoshino-san."

My breath hitches, taking my heart rate with it. "Yes, Mi?"

"I want you, Aya."

I smile, my eyes twinkling just for her as I cup her cheek. "I'm already yours."

"Forever."

Tears spill down my cheeks.

"I've been wracking my brain, trying to figure out the perfect moment." Ask me, Hitomi. Ask me! You know the answer's yes. "I mean, ever since you started cooking for me. The day you made okonomiyaki for me… oh, gods, it slipped out, but I was hoping you'd say yes anyway."

Ask me. Ask me. Please, just say the words.

"I mean. I know we haven't been dating long. And I still have so much training to do, and so much to learn. Let alone us starting the rehabilitation centre, and getting those apartments fixed up and rented out and…" She's rambling again.

I kiss her, effectively shutting her up. As I pull back, her eyes are every bit as teary as mine. She's so afraid, afraid I'll tell her no, afraid I'll say I'm not ready. So let's loosen that fear one knot at a time.

"Poppa's been helping me with the paperwork. All apartments in Ryuuhou and Konoha have been officially registered to be rented. Ensui selected a team of handymen in the clan, and has been repairing and nicing up everything they can, only hiring when it's outside their skillset. The daycare officially opens next week. I already have the house set up, and the last touches are scheduled to take place tomorrow. We've already passed inspection, and we have twenty-six children pre-registered, including the expectant mothers of our allies."

"Esnui told me," she murmurs, nodding. The gentle action sends a pair of tears cascading down. I gently cup her other cheek, thumbing away the moisture and emotions spilling down.

"I've made arrangements for our people to take specialized courses. Most here in Konoha, but some in Ryuuhou as well. They'll be running the gambit from architect to electrician to carpenter to plumber to central heating technician to blacksmith to chef. We even have two I've petitioned uncle Inoichi to train in psychotherapy."

"I know," she murmurs, the yearning in her eyes only growing stronger.

"We even have another farm, just outside of Konoha. I've been talking to auntie Mariko about what we can grow there, and what farm animals we could buy. It would lower our cost of living considerably if we grow our own food, after all."

She smiles, more tears falling down.

"I've had plans drawn up for a sizable greenhouse. We'll be growing our own chocolate." She laughs, uncaring that more tears fall for her efforts. "I've even been talking to uncle Chouza about his restaurants ordering ingredients from us, if we can assure the numbers and quality he needs."

She nods, no doubt already knowing all of this.

"We take care of each other," I remind her. "We're already partners in this, in all of this." I look towards poppa, who's carefully rocking Okichi—she's obviously awake, but she isn't crying.

"I'm sorry. I meant for this to go completely different," she complains. "I—"

"Namiki Hitomi," I soothe, cutting her off, knowing she'll just start rambling again. I peer into her white, almost featureless eyes. Eyes that anyone else would find scary, unnerving. Eyes that only ever smile when she looks at me. "Will you marry me?"

"That's my line!" she complains, her eyes going wide as dinner plates as she registers what I asked. "You…?"

"I've been trying to figure out ways to show you. Ways to let you know that I'm not just going through the motions." I look back to Okichi, hearing her grumbled cries that tell me she's upset but she's being coddled just right to keep her from throwing a tantrum. "The night Okichi was born was the last straw for me. How you so easily accepted her into your life, how you demanded to be registered as the father. How you've been going out of your way at every turn to help with everything."

"Love, are you…?"

"The air smells of rain. The rainy season starts tonight," I say, turning back to her. The sky is practically cloudless, but I've never been wrong about this. She narrows her eyes, trying to make sense of me. "That means I'm not bringing Okichi out of the house unless I can't help it. So… would you rather say that your girlfriend couldn't come because she's home minding our baby? Or does saying your fiancée sound more appealing?"

She pulls away from me, walking off. I can't breathe. That is what she wanted to ask, right? Why would she walk away?

She comes back into view, having circled around. She pulls out a little box from only the gods know where. And she drops to one knee. I wipe away the stupid tears. Of course. She's a traditionalist. She needs to do this the right way or it doesn't count, not to her.

She opens the box, revealing a simple golden ring with an understated diamond jutting out. Tears fall. It isn't a perfect moment. She screwed up a dozen times already, and that's not even counting the previous attempts she backed away from—the theatre just now, and last night when she stole me away after Shimura's call, being the two easier to spot. The jagged edges she feared she'd slip and fall onto. The pitfalls she didn't realise I've been working my ass off to cover before either of us falls into one of them.

From the moment you barged back into my life, Hitomi. You've done all you can do be there for me. From begging me to go back to counselling, to buying those cookbooks, to buying more dishes and pots than I've ever needed. You started a chain reaction that changed me forever, and you were too busy trying to save me to care.

You didn't anticipate people fearing what an Anbu Op in my life would do, especially when coupled with me taking out a chuunin, which opened the door to my not caring about taking out a jounin. And when the heat got too much in Konoha, you stole me away. You trained me to get stronger than I ever thought I would be. You helped me perfect my every genjutsu, taught me the basics for medical jutsu.

And the teahouse in Saimogo, where you brought me back to life. How you doted on me that whole day, how you stole my first kiss that night—as ineptly as everything else you try the first time. How you spent those days helping me to get all the money I'd need, all the weapons I could want, and even helped me to save Naruto—that stubborn ass.

If just one crucial moment was denied us, we both would have deprived ourselves of this moment. We're a statistical impossibility. Knowing that makes this all the more precious—something a 'perfect' moment could never live up to.

"Namiki Aya. Will you marry me?" I nod, not bothering to fight the tears.

"It's about time you took responsibility," I tease. "Yes, Mi. A thousand times yes." I nod again, more emphatically this time. I don't even bother with the tears, or how my hands shake as she extracts the ring and slips it onto my ring finger. It fits, with a little room in case I get bloated. "I finally have a way to tell right from left."

She laughs, standing up and scooping me up in one go—who cares what happens to the box. Her lips meet mine.

"Ahh! Uhh! Ahh! Uhh! Ahh!"

Shit. I'm already leaking, my body craving nothing more than to tend to Okichi's needs. "Come on, love. Let's get you two inside," Mi says, already walking us towards poppa.

I pull myself up, murmuring into her ear, "I you."

"I love you, Aya." Fuck. Perfect is overrated.

"I love you, Hitomi." I hope she can make that out through the sobs that came out of nowhere.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 35_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: The original plan ended Solidarity right here. But I was rereading Zeraslam6's story, and a thought hit me with her OC Senju Rinka, who I use with permission. And well, a very different plan formed in my mind. Not that I ever get enough reviews to warrant it, mind you -_-  
_**

 ** _So anyway. I have four more ideas I want to work out, and a cute fluff-bunny of a plot point that I can't help but want to write. How ever many chapters that takes, that takes._**

 ** _Happy holidays to one and all. And I hope to have a few specials coming out, but frankly I would get your hopes up. Enjoy ^_^_**


	36. Hitomi: a little death

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 36 – Hitomi: a little death_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

She said yes.

That one little fact crowds everything out, even as I guide Aya, my gorgeous little midget once again holding Okichi, to the theatre. I hope she lets her guard down, even if only a little. That maybe she'll actually be surprised this time. It's getting harder and harder to surprise her with anything.

Even when I tried proposing in Ryuuhou, she didn't take me seriously, thinking I was merely grateful for her not only cooking for me, but that she cooked my favourite. I was serious. I wanted her to say yes then and there—not caring if it slipped out. It slipped out in Wave how beautiful she is to me, it didn't make it less true.

Then four days ago, when she was pacing up and down with Okichi at two in the morning. Her eyes were red from lack of sleep and her hair frazzled—she looked a mess. But the way she kept singing and walking with our daughter struck me as the most incredible, the most beautiful, gesture of love I've ever seen.

I asked her then and there, but she just rolled her eyes and kept walking. I scooped her up into my arms, holding them both as I took over her pacing. It stung that she didn't take me seriously, but at the same time, it was easy to see she was too tired to care what I asked.

And when I finally got her alone, just after lunch, I tried getting it all out. She'd already brushed me off a dozen times—and it's not like I've ever proposed to anyone!—so I was nervous. As usual, she just gave me that patient smile of hers, like she understood what I was going through.

But the important part, the part my brain just can't wrap itself around:

She. Said. Yes.

She wants me in her life as desperately as I want her in mine. I don't even care that I'd set up tonight as an easy way to get her alone, to propose to her. I don't even care that she barely seemed to notice how the pups took turns playing songs and singing just for her—she was too busy napping in my lap, having succumbed to Reika's soothing lullaby.

Even with everything going on, even with us trying to build up a clan from what once were motley pearls hidden beneath the waters, as she tries to masterfully craft a necklace fit for a daimyo… through it all, she depends on me to keep her going.

And I'm rambling. Oh, gods, she said yes.

"Mi?" I stop, wondering what has my miracle looking so nervous. "Are you sure?"

"About what, love?" The late afternoon sky is an explosion of pink and orange, dotted with red clouds. Even though we're on our street, it's quite busy—everyone's walking to the theatre, most carrying their umbrellas for later.

"Wanting to marry me? I mean. I'm such a bitch. And I look a mess. And I can't seem to get a good night's sleep, even when you take Okichi during the night."

I snort, shaking my head in amusement. "Yes, love. I'm sure." She looks down and away from me, blushing even as she frowns. She isn't asking _if_ I want her, it's why that she craves hearing. "Even when you're a zombie skulking up and down our bedroom at an ungodly hour, even when the only thing you can say comes out as mindless groans and grumbles. You are the most beautiful woman in the world."

She rolls her eyes, annoyed with me. "Now you're talking shit."

"I'm not."

"I look the worst at two AM. How can you say I'm beautiful."

"Because I see the love in your eyes when you nurse her. Because you keep arguing how I need my rest when you're just as tired. Because the first thought going through your mind when she cries isn't how loud she's being, it's how desperately she needs you to take care of her." Her cheeks redden, her eyes drinking me in as if I'm the very air in her lungs.

"You are as beautiful to me in your most fetching kimono, as you are after dealing with Okichi all night and not having gotten a wink of sleep. You are as beautiful being dressed up and ready to go dancing, as you are wearing a housedress and an apron and wearing flour as your makeup."

She looks away from me. "I'm sorry… I…"

I carefully wrap a single digit around the point of her chin, gently tugging her to look at me. All I get is a tear cascading down her pale cheek. I wipe it away, wondering what has her like this. "Any kunoichi unafraid to go toe to toe against the likes of Shimura Danzo is beautiful to me." Her chin quivers.

"Any woman that would overcome her fears for something as trivial as cooking me a meal is beautiful to me." More tears escape. Why are you so emotional, love?

"Any woman that can storm in when it all seems hopeless, kick the enemy's ass, then turn around and heal me. That's a beautiful woman." She looks up, showing me the fears swimming in her eyes, showing me the uncertainties plaguing her. She thinks she isn't good enough.

"Any woman that would give up the life she fought long and hard for, because a complete stranger thrusts a new-born into her arms, is beautiful to me." I carefully take Okichi from her, knowing she needs a moment to collect herself. "And that woman only becomes more beautiful when she gives up her night's rest for our child. Becoming more beautiful still when she still fights to make my life better, let alone the lives of everyone around her."

She lays her head against my tummy, her arms snaking around my middle as her chest and shoulders quake with the fears leaving her at last—I hope.

"The beauty the world sees when they look at you. It pales in comparison to the woman I've come to know. The woman I trust tending to me when I get injured. The woman I trust to feed me and bathe me and help me to the bathroom and clothe me and scratch my itches when they're driving me crazy. The woman you show me when no one's looking. When it's just us, alone, at two in the morning and our daughter is driving you up a wall when you just want to sleep. That woman is stunning."

I give her a minute, letting her cry out whatever has her like this. All the while I keep trying to understand. She takes enough naps, so in total I think she gets about eight hours of sleep—not consecutively, but it's already been a month. Two to go, and Okichi should start sleeping through the night.

Does she fear I find her less attractive? I hope I just addressed that. Maybe she fears we aren't having sex enough? Frankly, she'd fall asleep halfway through.

Okay. I don't know. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm scared."

"About what?"

"I…"

"It's alright, love. Take your time," I soothe, wondering what could possibly shake her so profoundly mere hours after we get engaged.

She sighs, pulling back as she dries her tears. "It's stupid."

"Tell me anyway?"

She sighs again, looking away from me, from us. "What if I'm not enough?"

I narrow my eyes. Her chest is tight again. Konoha weighs on her, just as before. To hell with surprising her, she needs this. "Come with me. To Ryuuhou."

"We just got back."

"I don't care. Come with me?"

"We have meetings."

"I'll make arrangements. Let's get away from here. Spend the winter in the capital."

"The rainy season's starting," she tries again, looking up to the encroaching clouds.

"We'll buy carriages. Turn the empty sitting room into a large dojo, so you can train and never have to leave the house. Satsuma's already monitoring our expectant mothers. And you're getting up there yourself."

"The pups are just getting s—"

"Then we'll go. Just the three of us."

"They'd never agree to that."

"Stop looking for reasons to say no," I get on her case. Her eyes widen, two rogue tears stealing down her cheeks. I wipe them away, cupping her cheek with my free hand and nudging her to look up at me. "I know that's what you're doing. You think you don't deserve it, so you're coming up with every reason to say no. So how about this. I want to kidnap you and bring you to my palace, far, far away from here, where no one knows where to find us."

She snorts, her eyes smiling at last. "Everyone knows how to find us there."

"But only those we trust can get in. And they're already my accomplices in this." She muzzles my palm a sigh escaping her, like a breath she didn't realise she was holding, to show she's relaxing a little. "How many times do I have to tell you? I like having your eyes see only me. I'm too selfish when it comes to you and the only person I'm willing to share you with is Okichi… for now."

"For now…?"

"Yeah. When I get pregnant, I won't mind sharing you with another of our babies. And when you get pregnant, I can stomach sharing you with that baby, too. But anyone else? I dunno…"

The yearning from earlier is back, her need for my eyes to see only her—I'm only too happy to oblige.

"I need you, Aya. Even the broken bits and jagged edges you hate about yourself. Please, let me steal you away from the world."

"How long?"

"Mid spring. We'll come back in time for the festival."

"The Chuunin Exams?"

"Well, that too, I guess. I was more hoping you'd drag me from stall to stall. I mean, Okichi would be almost five months. We could have someone babysit her for a few hours, and we could enjoy a day out. Right?"

"Hmm?"

"And we could watch the matches together. Reserve a private booth so we can bring Okichi and our wolves to guard us."

"You're serious."

"Come with me?"

"Fine. But we're arranging that a medic come to Ryuuhou to help train our people."

"I'll call in the morning," I agree without having to think about it. "I'll talk to Dragon about injured teams reporting to us in Ryuuhou if we're closer, and letting them call in from there as they recuperate."

"Then we'll need four medics. Just in case. And we're setting up one of the barracks as a hospital. A proper hospital. That way the pups won't see any injured being brought in, even in the middle of the day."

"Alright. I'll talk to Hana. See what all we'd need."

"And you're going to start taking your sealing training seriously. You promised to be Anbu's aid from the shadows. And so far they haven't gotten a single seal from you."

"I'll talk to Asami and the Uzumakis. See if we can tempt them to join us. And I'll talk to Zabuza-san. He's still supposed to be guarding you. Maybe we can get the Yuki clan to join us. So we can have Team Mika training alongside our little wolves."

She nods, the begging in her eyes steadily growing.

"I'll talk to Hiashi. Get a team of Hyuugas to come with us. I'm thinking eight or twelve. And I'll talk to Rinka. See if she wants to tag along, or if we need to arrange something for her here."

Her breath shallows, I hope I'm doing something right.

"I'll even talk to Kakashi-san, Asuma-san, and Kurenai-san. See if I can tempt them to bring their teams on a prolonged training mission. Hokage-sama can still call them if something comes up. And we'd have medics on site, if anything happens."

Hope glimmers in her eyes. "I you"

I smile, taking her into my arms—err, arm. "I you."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

We're shown to a private table, over to one side, away from people. "I need a pen and paper, please," I say, scooting over next to Aya. Reika comes running, unsealing the bouncy buggy for us and the requested writing utensils. I quickly write down everything I need arranged, setting tight deadlines for every step of it. "Take this to Yoshino-san. Tell her I'm counting on her."

Reika takes the paper I offer her and dashes off. I activate my Byakugan, spying Yoshino-san already taking it, reading the first words: _she's short-circuiting_. She grabs Shikaku-san's elbow, practically shoving the list under his nose. He looks right at me, his eyes hard as he nods.

 _It's the killing_ , he mouths, no doubt knowing I can see him. _Convince her to give you that scroll, I'll handle it if she needs someone dead._

I deactivate my bloodline limit, turning to find bright violet eyes glowing up from her bouncy little prison. "Look who's in a social mood," I coo, melting as her face lights up. I pull her seat, setting her right in front of Aya and me, close enough that we can lean back and easily reach her. "And guess what, Kichi? It's just the three of us tonight. We're gonna have lots of music, and mommy's gonna have her plays, and you get to have us all to yourself tonight. What do you think about that, huh? Did momma work miracles or what?"

Her owlish little eyes are smiling as bright as the rest of her face, matching mine perfectly.

"I think so, too. So listen. Tonight, it's all about you and mommy. What do you say I spoil you both rotten?" A joyous little cry and her kicking excitedly tell me all I need. So I turn to Aya, studying the intricate weaving of brown and yellow in her eyes. "Kichi agrees with me. So what do you say? Will you let me spoil you a bit?"

She smiles, her eyes softening and her shoulders relaxing. She nods.

"Enough to let me do the killing from now on?" She nods, leaning in. We share a kiss, then another. And another.

"Alright, Mi. You know where the scroll is, and what it does. I'll teach you how to use it."

"And how to make more like it?"

"Nn," she noises, stealing another little kiss. "Momma can help you if you feel bad about taking up my time."

"And pass up a reason to have your undivided attention?" I snort, shaking my head, no. "I want you to teach me. And I need your help with that Sound Barrier. I still can't get it stable enough to block anything stronger than a stiff breeze."

She kisses me again, needier this time.

"And I want to add Eimi to our medic training roster. She's got the drive, and she finally admitted she wants to learn." I don't care how many little things I need to tell you, love. I don't care how many little ways I need to show you how precious you are to me. I'll do all this and more, I swear it. "I'm getting her a tetsubo and trench knives. I figure she'd make a hell of a defensive fighter, you know?"

"We'll discuss it at the estate. For now. I want to focus on us. Just Okichi, you, and me."

"What? No gushing about Michiko and Misato?" She laughs, leaning into my warmth just a little deeper. "Oh. We need to start introducing Eimi to eligible singles. Not to mention Tsuji and Atsu."

"That's true. But we have a wedding to plan?" My face grows so warm that I likely glow in the dim lighting. "And when do you think is a good time to start planning your pregnancy? Did you want to wait until Okichi's a year or two?"

"That makes sense. How many pups are we going for?"

"I like the idea of a big family."

"I know. Three each? Not including Okichi."

"Hmm? That's fair. We renegotiate numbers if anything changes?"

"Of course." I kiss her, loving that I'm the only one that ever will. "I don't want you getting pregnant before you turn seventeen."

"Sixteen is healthy."

"Agreed, but if we wait for Okichi to turn three, then have number two. You're already looking at six years. That's eighteen."

"Coincidence." She waves it off, no doubt already looking forward to getting pregnant—she might take strongest after her father, but I see so much of sensei in her.

I smile, kissing her temple. "What do you think, Kichi? You'd be the head brat of our bunch. And from the sound of it, you're gonna have a lot of little troublemakers to keep in line."

"Brrrrrr," she noises, uncaring for the trouble coming her way.

"Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you, kiddo."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Hoshie and Sakiko are playing a shinobue duet. They didn't get to earlier, but their eyes are glued to our table, to Aya I don't doubt, with each note they play. And boy do they play the notes. One at a time to stay in tune with each other. Reika even has to keep the rhythm for them, tapping a drum as their metronome.

Not that anyone cares. It's amazing that two five year olds have gotten this far this quickly, let alone how willing they are to put themselves in front of the whole clan, in front of all our allies, and show off that skill.

Aya's spellbound, humming along, matching them note for note. Even Okichi is entertained, listening to the music. Even though they are essentially competing with professional geishas, who trained for years to master their crafts, the pair of them are fearless.

Having reached the end of their piece, they lower their flutes, taking a deep bow to the crowd's applause. Polite, but applause all the same. They rush down the stairs, dashing straight for us, flute in hand.

"You two were amazing," Aya coos, taking them into her arms and bathing them in kisses. I beam, enjoying Aya's reaction far more than the music a moment ago. "You've been practicing hard. I'm gonna have to step my game up if I want to keep up."

They share a look, glowing at the praise, and in this moment, I see them no longer caring that they practiced for weeks to get the song to where it is. I see them no longer caring that Aya slept through their original performance at lunch. All they feel is proud that they made their sister happy with their hard work, that Aya sees them as they are, even though they know the geisha's now taking the stage will blow their performance out of the water without even trying.

I don't listen to the conversation, I only care for their shared happiness.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?" I look to the stage, trying to act confused as Aya turns to study me. She already knows something's up. Shit, let's see. How do you kill a man with two chicken filets and a bowl of rice? Arguably, I could empty the bowl and—

"We have a special announcement to make." But then again I cou—

"What have you done?" Aya demands. I offer a cheesy smile.

"Nothing?"

"Liar."

"Noting major?"

"Bullshit."

"If the story holds true, Lady Hitomi asked Lady Aya to marry her." The buzz of excitement rips through the crowd.

"No way!" Hoshie belts out. "You got engaged?!" She doesn't even wince from being so loud. The hall is filled with excited murmurings, a happy buzz telling me all I need to know.

"That's right! Lady Hitomi finally got the words out!" I flinch, flushing at the reminder of how many times I've made it obvious I was itching to ask her. The snorts and chortles from pretty much everyone certainly doesn't help.

"To celebrate!" The crowd quiets once again, but one word keeps getting repeated over and over: Ryuuhou. "To celebrate, Lady Yoshino and Lady Miwako have requested going to the capital for the winter, where they will have the space we all need to support our ladies through this momentous milestone in their lives."

I look to Aya just as she looks to me. "You were already planning it?" she asks, shocked.

"However!" The announcer cuts across excitement and nervousness alike.

Tapping my finger against my smiling lips, I murmur, "Just listen."

"We need not all go with them. Lady Hitomi has made arrangements for all who wish to stay here. Doctor Hana will continue Lady Aya's medical classes. Lady Tsume has arranged for her clansmen to give daily martial trainings. Lord Shikaku has arranged for tactical lessons. And Lady Yoshino has arranged for the continuation of etiquette classes. So all who wish to stay, will not only have our ladies' blessing, but the support of the clans in doing so. Please, do not feel obligated to travel, especially with the rainy season fast approaching."

Aya's eyes widen, surprised at those words. Yoshino-san and I have had this contingency in place since our last trip, one that we've continuously adapted to the ever changing needs of the Namiki clan. Because we knew Aya would use the others as a reason not to go, even if she needs to get away.

"That's right! Lady Hitomi and Lady Aya ask that you choose for yourself. There is space enough for us all in Ryuuhou, but they will also need Namiki clansmen here in Konoha. So those who wish to go may discuss the matter with Lady Hitomi, Lady Yoshino, Lady Miwako, or Lady Yasu."

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 36_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _ **A bit short, and it took too long to write. I know. Sorry about that.**_


	37. with bated breath

**_Butterflies: Solidarity_**

 ** _"Namiki Aya has nothing and no one. No one to come home to. No one to hold her when she cries. No reason to get out of bed, other than the nightmares. Not until her someone barges back into her life and says three words that change everything: I need you." Spin-off of Butterflies; AU. Yuri main character. Dark themes, suicidal ideation, depression, gore, and frisky nudity later on._**

 ** _Warnings! This is a very real look into the depths of depression, into sexuality, and into working as an ANBU Operative. The main pairing is two OCs: Namiki Aya and Hyuuga Hitomi, both from Butterflies and The Butterfly Effect. Don't like? Don't read._**

 ** _Chapter 37 – with bated breath_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Sitting in bed, in our room in our estate, with Mi propped up behind me and Kichi working in her meal. Mama and papa are busy setting up the changing table and crib and everything we need for my baby. Rieko and Sumi are quite content, sitting to the low table with Hoshie and Sakiko and Reika, going through their reading lessons with Yasu-nee.

It's been a rather hectic trip, getting everything we need sealed, organizing everyone, and especially getting us all to the capital. But we're here. It's surreal, but somehow we're here.

Of course, most of the clan decided to stay in Konoha. They'd had to, with their courses starting, the crèche opening, and all the construction on the farm. But I don't feel worried about them in the least. Mom is handling things on that side for us, and she keeps calling to keep us up to date on that front.

It's… we're here. In Ryuuhou. And things aren't falling apart.

I snuggle a little deeper into Mi's addictive warmth, her arms wrapped around me. Whatever I did to deserve her, I'm grateful. Not that I understand what it is, but still.

"I spoke to Tetsuhiko." She lays her chin on my head. It should make me feel small, that I can actually fit comfortably under her like this. But all I feel is safe. "We'll be holding tomorrow's meetings here, to ensure you don't have to travel. Depending on how they go, Tetsuhiko assured me he'll host every subsequent meeting in his palace."

As interesting as she thinks that is, there's only one thing on my mind just now.

"Mi?"

"Nn?"

"I feel like okonamiyaki tonight."

"Hmm." The smile in her voice. The way she squeezes me, gentle but needy all the same.

"I cook, you mind Kichi?"

"We don't have the ingredients. And the market's already closed. So how about I get take-out and you, Kichi, and me have a nice quiet meal?"

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Lady Namiki." I bow to Mifune, admiring the impressive collection of jounins present for this. I mean, Zabuza and Haku flank me, for starters. Somehow Auntie Tsume is here for this, and she brought Cat, Mitarashi, and some purple-haired woman I don't know—who smells like she spends her free time oiling her blades.

Then there's Hatake, Yuuhi, and Sarutobi, each here with their teams. Santa, Ensui, and Makabu are here, representing the three clans, since mom and daddy couldn't come. Curiously, Hiashi is here with an entourage—I suspect that's because his daughters are both here and he's a bit jumpy about the international hubbub.

Hana-nee is here as well, though she's mostly sticking to the shadows and ordering any and all medics from my clan around. Other than papa, he decided to stay upstairs with the pups, to keep them entertained while we work.

Let alone that Masashige has fifteen of our strongest little wolves about the place, each armed to the teeth.

It's supremely weird to not have mama here, but really pregnant women shouldn't be included in this. So she's upstairs with Rieko and Sumi, being guarded by Masashige himself.

"A brrriiiiiiiii," Kichi noises, trying to get my attention. I look down, beaming at her, making a face just to hear her laugh. But unfortunately, mommy has to work.

"Mifune, it's good to finally meet you. Yoshitoshi will show you to your rooms, where you can freshen up. Your sons and their entourage await you. Lunch will be served in an hour, and the meeting doesn't start until after that."

"Thank you." He bows low, his weathered face crinkling up into a warm smile. It's a little strange to see him in a men's kimono, but really I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps those odd samurai armours I never could make much sense of.

"And please, stop calling me that. Aya is fine." He chuckles, but doesn't fight me on it. Seeing the women of his group completely unarmed, that has me concerned, so I try to ignore it. We make a little more small talk, but another group is coming so he heads off.

The Taira clansmen. I recognize their scents easily enough, but I won't pretend I'm happy to see them. They come towards us, Hatake and Sarutobi getting in the way to show they aren't coming anywhere near me.

"You are the Taira representatives," Sarutobi intones.

"We are." The spokesperson of their group doesn't seem impressed with the reception, especially having seen Mifune's group getting such a warm welcome. Still. What do they hope to achieve with sending eight of their strongest samurais to this meeting? Don't they realise they just make us even more annoyed?

"You'll follow me." Sarutobi's laconic treatment is better than they deserve. Really, if mama were here, she'd have pissed at least one of them off by now—and if she wasn't pregnant, she'd likely have already killed them.

With those idiots handled, I go back to bouncing Kichi about and singing whatever silly song pops into my head for her. It doesn't last long, but my baby isn't complaining too much.

"Tetsuhiko. And you brought Shijimi with you." I beam, welcoming them as warmly as they deserve. "Takada, Ichimi. And ooh, we have four new faces. I can't say we've met, but welcome all the same."

"It's good to see you again, Aya," Tetsuhiko greets, his and Shijimi's eyes on little Kichi.

"Where are your manners, Okichi? Aren't you going to say hello?" Kichi cackles, her eyes laughing as I tap her nose playfully. Tetshuhiko and his wife come, but they're wise enough not to try touching my baby, just in case. There's the usual exchange—she comments on how beautiful my baby is and will be, he is more asking how fearsome she'll be when she grows up. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise which is more accustomed to Namikis.

"Yasu-nee will show you to your quarters, if you wish to freshen up. Lunch is in forty-five minutes, and the meetings don't start until after. I do hope you'll stay for dinner as well."

"Ooh. That sounds lovely. Could we, Hiko?" He laughs, his eyes lit up with joy at so simple an interaction. It must be quite odd for him, to just _be_ in the company of others.

"It does sound lovely. Yes, we'll do just that. I hope you don't mind the extra guards?"

"Because Namikis are known for our subtlety." His face goes bright red, laughing so hard it almost looks painful.

"Gods. I'm glad you'll be here for some time," he says, offering his elbow to his wife to escort her towards their granddaughter.

It isn't a minute later that a redhead with two shinobi enters our foyer. Hmm, this would be the Mizukage and her entourage. They come to us, but only the redhead dares make eye contact.

"Lady Namiki," she greets, bowing low in concert with her guards. The tall one has short, dark blue hair and an eye patch covering his right eye. I smell Hyuuga on him, which could be a problem. Still, his men's kimono and lack of weapons shows he's not here to be a dick about it.

The other has short, spiky, almost cyan hair. His glasses and some weird ear covering makes him look bookish—a welcome change as far as I'm concerned. He is armed, though, with what looks like dual grips peaking up over his shoulder. Though he also wears a men's kimono, of the same greyish-blue as his partner, so I won't complain too much.

The woman herself, however, she radiates alpha without even trying. Her ankle-length auburn hair seems to be all over the place, if in a neat-ish fashion. Her green eyes sizzle with a fire that is hard to place, but impossible to ignore. And her rich blue battle kimono that leaves her shoulders completely exposed shows she's both comfortable in her skin, and ready to throw-down at any time.

"Terumi Mei of the Mist," I greet, hoisting Kichi up onto my chest where she grabs my shirt and holds on for dear life—she has a thing for crinkling all my tops, so I'm glad it's just a simple house dress. "Mama already told me about your attitude problem. Start any shit, and I'll turn your brain to soup."

The two guards go pale, their faces slack. But the woman herself beams. "You're Miwako's daughter alright. I was expecting her to make an appearance?"

"She might. But I doubt papa will take the risk." She nods, tears collecting in her eyes, no doubt knowing exactly what that means. "Eimi will show you to your quarters where you may freshen up."

"Thank you, Lady Namiki."

This is just going to be a fucking headache, isn't it.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

Once everyone arrives, including Hiruzen, I find myself playing hostess even as I eat. Though I do make sure the Taira are kept well away from me and mine. Still, it's an important moment, introducing Rinka and Naruto to the world.

"The Water Daimyo and his consort," I murmur, nodding in their direction. "He hasn't been shy with his disdain for the previous Mizukage, so I'm not surprised he showed up with four guards. She's going to have a hard time convincing him Mist is getting back on the right track."

Two of the servants keep going about, pouring more sake or tea for any who desire, and ensuring everyone's plates are full. Shijimi is especially happy about this, seeing as she's on her sixth serving—she's usually a lot better at keeping up with me, must be the company.

"Don't call Tetsuhiko or Shijimi by their names as I do. It's something they tolerate from me because they understand that's just how Namikis are. Refer to them by their stations, and don't dare drop the -dono. As for the fiery one over there?" I nod towards Terumi. "The recently instated Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei. She was the foremost leader in the rebellion against the Fourth, because of his Bloodline Purge. She commands the respect of her shinobi from both sides of the civil war, so it would be foolish to underestimate her."

Rinka nods, but Naruto's too busy complaining there's no ramen. It's a little weird sitting with all these people to one long, low table, but we'll survive.

Honestly, no matter how much muscle any of them bring, our people aren't in any way afraid, nor should we be. After all, even with their inflated numbers compared to what would be acceptable any other time, we outnumber them five to one—especially since Hiruzen brought another two shinobi with him.

Adding that Mi decided her lap is the only seat worthy of me and Kichi steadily getting more active and wriggly in my arms…? Those poor idiots probably can't wrap their heads around how unorthodox this day has been thus far, and how much worse it's going to get.

"Aya-chan?" Rinka murmurs, not quite understanding that every group here can hear her just fine. "Should I really be included in this?"

"You are the heir apparent of the Senju clan. And Naruto is the head of the Uzumaki clan. What do you think I'm going to say?" Terumi flicks her gaze our way, no doubt interested in these two. "Just remember that deferring to me is a socially accepted and an acceptable choice. And neither of you have to attend the meeting later."

"Ahh! Uhh! Ahh!" Shit. I wasn't expecting Kichi to get hungry for at least another hour.

I sniff, wondering what could possibly have her like this, but there's nothing I can sense.

"Oh, oh, oh. There, there, Kichi," I soothe, shifting her so she's on her tummy. She keeps kicking and writhing, so I figure her tummy's acting up. My hand glows from the Mystic Palm, and even the briefest scan shows I'm right. It takes less than a second to ease her discomfort, and she settles down.

"I can't believe she feels comfortable bringing a baby." I glance down the line, towards the Taira dumb enough to say that. But I'm more amused by those around him, sweating like pigs and clearly acting like they aren't here with him.

"Love?" Mi grabs my attention, her arms snaking around me and under mine to help support our baby. "You still hungry?"

I peer up at her, my eyes half-lidded, my gaze on her lips. She smirks, waggling an eyebrow. Before I have to so much as hint at more, she leans in and kisses my neck, her teeth grazing my skin. My hand snakes up to the back of her head, my fingers tangle into her hair as I tilt my head further to give her better access.

The Taira start grumbling about our public display of affection, but really, I don't know what they were expecting.

"Hmm. Definitely Miwako's daughter," Terumi says, the smile obvious in her tone.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

There's the buzzing of conversation, like little bugs I want to swat. This bug says this, that bug says that. I'm mostly just here chatting away with Sachiko, Mifune's wife, sitting to one of the many low tables in this room, so everyone can kind of break off into their own little meeting as they please.

"Oh yes, Kamaoshi was every bit as fussy at that age. Both of them were. In fact, my honourable husband used to bring them to tears just by entering the room. I think it's because he didn't know how to use his indoor voice."

I giggle, imagining the man himself baffled by how his own children would burst into tears, seemingly at his mere presence. "One of the reasons I'm so grateful for Hitomi and our parents. If ever I'm overwhelmed, I can count on them to mind Kichi."

"I would imagine so, yes," she agrees, her eyes taking on a mischievous glint. "Not to mention a woman knowing a woman's needs far keener, hmm?" She waggles her eyebrow suggestively.

"Oh definitely. Mi sniffs out my moods better than anyone." I purposefully misunderstand her, uninterested in hearing what those Taira asshats have to say about this. Seeing as the other Three Wolves ladies deflate at my answer, however…? "But really there isn't that great a difference when compared to our parents, you know. We still have our little tiffs. We have our disagreements. We still have to communicate to ensure things continue running smoothly."

"You don't say."

"Mm." I nod, smiling as I peer over at Mi, who's discussing something with the Taira and Mifune. If only the scent of charred earth and steam wasn't consistently growing stronger.

"Lady Namiki?"

"Ah, Terumi. I was wondering when you'd decide you've had enough testosterone around you." The ladies laugh. "What did you wish to discuss?"

"The blond with you at lunch."

"Uzumaki Naruto, you mean?" She nods, her face held as a porcelain mask. "You wish to know if it's the same clan."

"I…Who are you, really? How are you entrusted with not just the Uzumaki, but Senju as well?" That must confuse her to no end. After all, I'm still the age of the average genin fresh from the academy, and me being short even for my age isn't helping.

"Hmm." I smile, stroking the side of Kichi's face with my fingertip. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just a housewife these days."

"Oi, Aya-chan?" I look over to Hatake, wondering what he's going to do to fuck this up. "Aren't you forgetting that Uchiha Sasuke's been bugging you for lessons?"

I roll my eyes, ignoring that. "So anyway. I'd really have to apologize. I was hoping to travel to Three Wolves come spring, but Kichi's way too young for that kind of trip."

"Lady Namiki. I'd rather you didn't ignore my question," Terumi presses, coming a step too close—and given she'd be well aware of Namiki habits from momma in the years she was in Mist…?

Instead of answering, I cast a triple layered B-Rank genjutsu on her. She dispels each so quickly that her eyes don't go out of focus. I nod, understanding just what kind of shinobi I'm up against.

I focus my Siren's Call into my vocal cords this time, and I start to hum, making sure to sequence it with Soothing Touch. I keep it up for almost a minute, quite enjoying the silence around me as everyone in the room is suddenly enraptured in my illusion.

When I feel my point has been made, I end the sequence, but I keep humming for my baby, who's already fast asleep. "Let me ask your question another way, Terumi. Who do you think could command the respect of all three of Konoha's Canine Clans? And who do you think would have the balls to issue orders to kages as easily as to civilians?"

Her green eyes focus solely on me, her interest piqued. "How did you do that?"

"Love?" I turn to Mi, who comes running and very carefully puts herself between Terumi and me. "Is there a problem here?"

"Not at all. Terumi just needed a friendly reminder that she isn't the scariest kunoichi in the room. After all, she knows just how unreasonable our clan would become if there was a problem, with me holding my daughter. Doesn't she?"

Curiously, both of Terumi's guards smell of fear. They think she's going to act out.

A bright light, the scent of sealing inks, and grunts of exertion. I stand, moving around Mi to find Terumi trapped in Asami's adamantine chains. Each link is as thick as my wrist, and the whole chain glows violet.

"Now, now," comes the Sarutobi's teasing. "One shouldn't demand things of their hosts. It's considered rude."

Terumi's eyes narrow, clearly wondering how not one, but two no-name kunoichis got the drop on her. What a shame, because Mi and her team are quickly learning all I can do and more, and from what Asami tells me, the Uzumakis aren't getting left behind.

"It's alright. She just doesn't understand, is all," I soothe. "So how about we all just calm down, and let's settle this peacefully."

Asami humphs, but her jutsu releases the Mizukage all the same.

"So, Terumi. Are you starting to understand? Or would a drink help?" I snap, and two Divine Hands pop into existence, both little more than ghost-white, disembodied, fully functioning hands, that hover over to the table and grab a warm bottle of sake and a saucer, hovering them over to Terumi and pouring her a drink.

The saucer is offered to the wide-eyed redhead, and she willingly grabs it and the bottle. Both hands fizzle out of existence, leaving the crowd more than a little flabbergasted.

"No. I think I'm starting to understand." She downs the saucer, obviously needing a drink just now.

"Just a housewife." Zabuza snorts, shaking his head in disgust. He's probably still sore about the 'just a genin' thing.

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Have you considered taking a team?"

"Now, now, Mizukage-sama. There isn't any formal alliance between our villages, for you to be asking things like this," Hiruzen butts in to keep the newest pest in the bunch off my ass. So while they're busy ironing out whatever they hope to achieve, I start nosing into Mifune's and Tetsuhiko's little chat.

"Really, Hokage-sama. Are you trying to tell me you allowed such a kunoichi to retire without petitioning her to train the next generation?" Those two start politely bickering, like the office-bearers they are. Her arguing that I should be training more of his people, him carefully reminding her that it's really none of her business. The joys of politics.

"My Lady?" Asako comes my way, her face held tight. "Lady Hoshie requires your aid."

"Oh?" I smile wondering what my brat is up to this time.

"It would seem she's mastered the previous exercise, so…" She wants to continue, but mama can't show her anything, only explain things. Hmm. It's also possible that mama's sleeping more, and Hoshie's trying to use this as the perfect excuse to hog up some of my time.

"Alright. I'll speak with her at dinner. Thank you."

"Of course, My Lady. And if I may?"

"Nn?"

"I've been…" she trails off, fidgeting and playing with her fingers, as if she just doesn't know how to get the words out.

"It's alright, little wolf."

She takes a deep breath, trying to rally her thoughts no doubt. "I would like to start learning medical theory. I was hoping you could point me in the right direction?"

"Of course." I'm just about ready to sing and dance, so happy. "Listen. In the library, on the third bookshelf to your," I feel for my ring, "right. On the third row, so right about chest-height. You'll find a book named Biology, Physiology and Pathology, by Ono Tadao."

She narrows her eyes, no doubt making a mental note of the name and location, nodding to show she's with me.

"You start with that book. There's always someone in the library in the mornings if you have questions, and I've been bugging papa to give medical lectures. Those are usually in the evenings, but ask him just in case. Make sure you bring a notepad and a pen, because you'll need to take a lot of notes. If you don't have any notepads and the like, talk to Satoko. She's in charge of things like that. And you should join the pre-med trainings I give. It isn't anything theoretical just yet. It's mostly chakra and endurance trainings. But you'll need that too."

Asako bobs her head, almost as a mini bow. "Thank you."

"If you forget any of that. Ask Eimi or Reika. They're following the same trainings, so they can help you get oriented. In fact, you should talk to Reika regardless. You'll need more things than you think, and she's the go-to person for that. And speaking of which. You'll need to join us for sealing training as well. Um. You know what. Just talk to Reika. Tell her I need her to sort you out."

"I've," she beams, her eyes teary, "been following Lady Asami's sealing trainings, My Lady. I hope I won't become a burden on you." She bows low, tears flow.

"Mm." I cup her cheek with my free hand, thumbing away her tears as best I can. "Go on. Reika should be in the library."

"Oh, Aya-chan? A word, if I may?" _Sigh_. I shoo Asako, turning to the man that seems a little too focused on me—per the norm, I'm afraid.

"I've turned you down a dozen times already, Hiruzen. I'm not—"

"Now, now. All I'm asking is for you to hear me out." _Sigh. Groan._ Stupid politicians! "Would you consider spearheading a medical training course? I mean. You do still intend to open your own rehabilitation centre, do you not?"

Train Anbu medics, huh? Well. I'll be working with them regardless.

"Do I get to enlist current medics on roster?"

"Of course."

"I get to approve of every student I train."

"That goes without saying."

"Nothing goes without saying when you're involved." He chuckles, highly amused about only the gods know what. "Send four of them. We'll train here until spring. Then we'll set up a proper course."

"I'll be sure they're informed, and we'll discuss financing over dinner."

"Love?" Mi comes up beside me, her hand on my lower back. "Would you mind if…?"

"Hmm?" Our eyes meet, hers mutely begging before flicking towards Hiashi. What is this, happy hour? "How many?"

The begging intensifies. As many as I'm willing, apparently.

"Do you have any in mind? I mean, don't we already have two teams here?" She nods, but doesn't answer. "You'll be training them yourself, you realise that?"

"It would be primarily women." And that's exactly what worries me, Mi. The same women you've had issues with for years, perhaps even your own sister.

 _Sigh_. "You're sure about this?" She nods. "Alright. But I'll still need you and Hatake for extra trainings for the medics."

We share a kiss, solidifying our agreement—or because she enjoys kissing me in plain view of everyone. Probably that last.

"Oh. Anko-san brought the last shipment we needed. Hana's setting things up as we speak."

She's more saying it for Auntie Tsume, who no doubt understands our Ryuuhou Anbu Hospital is now more or less operational. "Good."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

"Actually, excluding women does little more than cut your manpower in half. Let alone giving them the impression that they are second class citizens. I mean, look at how I am with my clan. Though not all of our women show a desire to become hunters, even those who do not are learning the healing arts. This allows for us to have both strong offensive and defensive groups, so no matter what fate comes our way, we stand ready."

Mifune strokes his chin, considering my words. His wife, and Yoshitoshi's sisters and mother, beam at me, obviously agreeing and approving wholeheartedly.

"And look at the far more immediate benefits," I continue, glancing over my shoulder at Asako, Michiko, Eimi, and Reika—Mi's been asked to discuss something privately with Hiashi and Hiruzen, so she demanded I be closely guarded while she's in another room. "Even should I not desire male eyes around me, I have guards even Hitomi can trust to guard me. And more importantly, we have more than enough little wolves that can guard our pregnant packmates. So, they still have their freedom and a respectful amount of privacy, even while we guard them as jealously as a wolf pack deserves."

"What of the risk of pregnancy," Mifune says, his eyes flickering to his wife. Hmm. He's considering it, then. Or perhaps he's just looking for little reasons not to. Either way, I aim my speech to his wife, so that she may consider looking into this when she returns home.

"That's precisely why I demand all little wolves and all pups are trained." Okichi lets loose a sniffled sigh. All the noise isn't exactly helping her sleep, and she'll no doubt start getting hungry soon. "Should any become pregnant, all the pack will know and we will all guard them. Should a new mother wish to stay with her pup, as I do, we have enough hands to provide for them both. Should she wish to get back to her life swiftly, we have a crèche set up, both here and in Konoha, to ensure our pups are all cared for. And should the unfortunate become reality, all of our pack will provide for the pup."

"On whose cost?" he asks, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"The clan's, of course." Hmm, Terumi smells like she's coming this way again, only this time she isn't alone. Unsurprisingly, Mi's scent also grows stronger. "All members of the clan are a part of a whole, whether shinobi, office worker, diplomat, or farmhand. As such, the might of the clan is most accurately measured not by the affluence of the head family, but by the security and quality of life of its least influential members."

"So your servants are offered the same rights and privileges as your siblings?" He doesn't seem to believe me—or is he curious how deep this goes for us.

"Well…" Terumi takes a seat beside Mifune, her two guards standing behind her. "It depends on which sibling. Yasu-nee is offered more, to counterbalance her responsibilities. The younger ones are offered less, because they still have growing to do. So I can't say it's a fair comparison to make. But to put this into perspective, I consider what I wish my siblings to learn, what I would wish my Okichi to learn when the time comes, and we base curriculum and trainings according to that. For all of my clan."

"Fair enough." His lips twitch upwards, for some reason. "So, Terumi-sama. What can we do for you?"

"How are your parents doing?" Terumi asks, eyeing me closer than I'm comfortable with.

"Love?" Mi butts in, her hands on my shoulders as she eases beside me, her inner thighs hugging me on her way down.

"Weren't you in a meeting?" I tease, leaning deeper into her warmth to show I like where she is. Mi's arms wrap around me, one supporting my arms and our sleeping baby, the other just holding me.

"Hmm." Hearing the smile, I figure she blew them off just to be near me when outsiders are too close for comfort. "Is that more important than my girls?"

I bite my lip, trying to hide my smile and maybe enjoying her overprotectiveness more than I should. "My parents are doing alright," I say, not looking to Terumi, but figuring she doesn't need me to. "Oh, Mifune-sama. Have you already spoken to Kamaoishi about it?"

Kana walks over to us with three assistants, offering us some tea and snacks.

"I have indeed. Though I wonder if I could beg a favour of you?" He seems more than a little amused about something. "Would you consider accepting four women from my clan as students in the healing arts?"

"Hmm?" That would show at least informal ties between our countries, and more importantly between our clans. "How about this. Yoshitoshi's mother, sisters, and Tsuki. I will train them while them stay with us. No one has to travel that way, and should they decide to stay with us, you may send another group to be directly trained by them."

"There's that." He strokes his chin, obviously hoping for more. "I was more hoping for two of my daughters."

"You would risk my bad influence on them?" I laugh, feeling Mi quaking behind me as well.

"Seeing how highly my sons speak of their time with you? I highly doubt that would be a problem. Perhaps you would be willing to accommodate them as well? To set a father's heart at peace?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. And both you and your wife would be welcomed any time you wish to visit. After all, I'm sure you would like to see for yourself how they progress in their training?"

"You are too kind, Aya-san," Sachiko gushes, her eyes smiling as she turns to Mifune. "That sounds perfect, doesn't it, husband?"

"Quite. We are most grateful, Aya-san."

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

After one too many informal meetings, I head upstairs and into my bedroom. Mama is fast asleep on my bed, with Hoshie and Kenshin snuggled up to her. Frankly, I like the idea, so I climb right in there with them.

Sure, I change Kichi, and I take my time feeding her. But after that? Mama pops her eyes open and demands her granddaughter sleep on her.

We work together, laying Kichi on her chest, and I curl up right beside her.

And we fall asleep just like that. Three generations of Namikis on one bed.

It isn't long before Mi snuggles up behind me. And I could almost swear I smell papa as well. I just grab Mi's hand and lay it on my thigh, right where we both want it.

I sigh, content.

Oh so content.

"I love you, Hitomi." Not just for being here with me…

But for setting me free.

In every sense of the word.

"I love you, Aya." She kisses me on my neck, where she knows only she will ever kiss me, and she snuggles just a little closer.

 ** _8-8_**

 ** _End Chapter 37_**

 ** _8-8_**

* * *

 ** _A/N: I know, I know. Not only has this taken forever, but it's both short and dreadfully lacking in action. But still, this is needed to ensure the fun little bits are lined up the way I need them.  
_**

 ** _Fret not! For Fayth has a plan. And ooooooooooh is this gonna be fun to write!_**


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